Murder on Green Hill Island
by twotailedfox
Summary: After Cream wins the lottery, she invites her 10 closest friends to an island to celebrate her winnings. However, when the awake to find her murdered body and discover that their only means of escape from the island is lying at the bottom of the ocean, tensions are raised. Will they survive or be picked off by the killer one by one. Nobody is safe!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Welcome to my new story, murder on green hill island. Warning for younger readers... This story contains death, gruesome imagery, murder, violent acts and a lot of swearing. If you are still here, then join Sonic and crew as they try to solve a mystery, stop a killer and survive the nights while stranded on Green Hill Island. I hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 1

"Please, Mr. Hedgehog, tell us what horrific events occurred whilst you were on that island," the presenter asked.

The room the two were situated in was quite small with long, jet black curtains covering most of the walls. The only flash of colour to juxtapose against the bleak appearance of the rest of the studio was a green screen that was plastered over the wall behind the two.

In the middle of the room were two small, wooden chairs with turquoise fabric back rests that connected the wooden frames. Gold, the golden tenrec held a small handful of cue-cards in front of her and had just finished introducing the show and her special guest for that evening's televised event. Sitting adjacent to her, was a tall, skinny sapphire hedgehog.

Sonic cleared his throat and focused his emerald pupils at the flashing red light on top of the camera that sat between the two, recording the conversation to the world.

"I still can't believe what happened to us all. It all started after our good friend Cream won the $10 million lottery. To celebrate, she rented out Green Hill Island and gave all of her closest friend's invitations to join her…" Sonic began, thinking back to all the horrifying events that had plagued the group not weeks prior to the recording.

…

The small waves, caused by the surge of passing boats that entered and exited carrying excited passengers off on fantastical voyages, lapped the sides of the mighty white ship. The ship towered over the rest of the boats in the mariner. Big, black letters swept over the side of the ship's hull, reading 'Anubis.'

The Anubis was only the fanciest, top of the line cruise ship known in all of Mobius. People would flock from far and wide just to get a chance to ride the magnificent specimen which hosted a plethora of rooms, activities and even had 6 on-deck pools.

The seagulls squawked high overhead, soaring along the flurries of winds that wept the faces of the ten animals that had received an invitation. Sonic was the first to step onto the rocking boat. He breathed in deeply, allowing the salty scent of the ocean aroma to tantalize his senses.

"I can't believe she won. This is going to be such a fun adventure," he beamed, rushing down to his bedroom, throwing his bags and sprinting back up on the deck before any of his friends had time to blink.

"Sonic, wait up. You can't keep running away from me forever!" the pink hedgehog known as Amy Rose called out, sweat dripping from her brow as she tried her hardest to keep up with the hero she admired so.

"C'mon Amy, give it a rest already," Sonic sighed, dodging out of the way of her hug attack, causing her to smash into the deck.

"Fine, for now my love," she blew him a kiss before retreating to the lower decks to prepare her room, making sure that it was the one adjacent to the one Sonic had chosen.

"Ha, ha, will she ever give it a rest?" Tails asked.

"I wish I knew, buddy," Sonic responded to Tails the Fox, his best friend and renowned boy genius of Mobius. "Maybe you could invent a sort of shield for me," Sonic joked, slapping his palm against Tails'.

"I don't know if I can," Tails giggled, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. He couldn't say no to Sonic's pleading pout however so he followed his sentence with," But I'll give it a try."

"Can't you boys just get a room," a voice taunted the two. They both turned their head to see a black and white bat waltz onto the boat, her hand placed firmly on her swaying hips.

"Rouge, you know it isn't like that," Tails complained.

"Whatever you say, hun," Rouge the bat winked at the flustered fox before fixing her gaze to Sonic. "Do you know where the bathroom is blue? A girl's gotta know where to freshen up," she smirked at the two, batting her eyelids.

"Down the hall," Sonic replied. "What you gotta do? Get changed into a bikini?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like that," she joked suggestively before turning and walking off down the hallway.

"That girl never gives it a rest, does she?" A violet feline known as Blaze the Cat asked, walking onto the boat with her suitcase trailing behind her, the squeaky wheels struggling to overcome the dents in the wooden dock.

"You just need to know when to show some skin, Blaze. A bikini isn't that bad," Sally Acorn, an auburn haired squirrel laughed as she joined the cat on the boat.

"Sally!"  
"Blaze!"

Sonic and Tails cried out in unison, rushing up to the two girls and giving them big hugs. Sonic and Sally had been great friends for ages, along with Tails and Blaze. It was only when Tails and Sonic had become best friends and began hosting parties to celebrate their countless victories over Dr. Eggman that the two girls finally got to make each other's acquaintances. Ever since then the four of them had been inseparable, although sometimes Blaze and Sally had argued about clothes, seeing as Blaze was a lot more sensible and more self-aware of her appearance.

"You don't have to get so sentimental. You all saw each other 2 nights ago," an annoyed ebony hedgehog called Shadow the Hedgehog complained.

"Shadow?" Blaze gasped, quite surprised to see the quiet, introvert arrive. "Cream invited you?"

"Don't act so surprised," he said in a flat tone, pushing past the cat.

"I…I didn't mean it that way," Blaze apologized.

"Whatever. See you guys around," Shadow called as he disappeared down into the dark depths of the cruise ship.

"Don't worry about Shadow. He gets that way sometimes," A voice called out from the pier.

"Silver!" Sonic waved as the silver furred hedgehog walked up the plank and plonked his bags on the greased deck of the ship.

"Sometimes I really don't understand that guy," Silver said, scratching his head as he heard the door to the staircase slam shut, rocking the ship harder than the lapping waves were.

"You don't understand anybody," Sally chuckled.

"Nice burn, Sal," Sonic high fived the squirrel.

"Guys come on, leave the poor guy alone," a melodic voice filled with care floated over the side of the deck.

"I'd know that lovely voice anywhere," Blaze sighed as a yellow skinned, purple haired mongoose named Mina walked up the plank.

"Mina," Amy called out as she returned up the stairs, running over to give the mongoose a hug. "How is your singing career going? It feels like it has been ages since we caught up."

"Errr," Mina froze up as the gaze of all her friends turned to her. "It's… umm… y'know, the usual. Just singing and selling out concerts. No bigge."

"We really need to go see one soon," Tails added.

"No!" she shouted out, before covering her mouth with her hands. "I mean… no, it's fine. I'm taking a little break from music."

"Oh… okay. Well we still need to hang out," Amy smiled. Mina drew the back of her hand over her forehead, absorbing the sweat that had begun to form. She was happy that the attention had been turned elsewhere.

"Well, I think that's everybody. Let's shove off," Sonic yelled enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air, excited to be going on another adventure some of his beloved freedom fighters.

"Hey, you better not be leaving without me!" A gruff voice called out. The rest of the invited guests glanced over the side to see a red echidna, Knuckles, rush around the corner. He just made it onto the boat before it set off on its voyage.

"What took you so long Red?" Rouge enquired as she made her grand entrance, clad in a very revealing blue 2 piece bikini.

"Well I," Knuckles started but when he turned around to face Rouge, he stumbled over the rest of his words.

"C'mon Knuckle head, stop drooling," Sonic laughed, patting his friend on the back.

"Hey! I wasn't drooling. I just lost track of my thoughts," he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.

"Can you guys quiet it down a bit? I'd like to get some rest before we arrive," Shadow spoke, jutting open the door to stare at the group of animals before shrouding himself back into the darkness of the deck below.

"What's his problem?" Silver asked.

"That's just Shadow. Don't worry, he just liked to keep to himself. He'll come join the rest of us eventually. But for now, I'm going to go soak up a few rays. This tan won't make itself," Rouge winked as she waltzed over to one of the many deck chairs that littered the boat and lay down.

"Last one to the pool is a rotten chao!" Knuckles called out, ripping off his shirt and diving head first into the closest pool.

"You are so on!" Sonic cheered, following in suit. Together, the 10 friends, even Shadow who eventually joined in with the rest of them, soaked up the sun, swam and laughed as the cruise ship slowly sailed to its destination, Green Hill Island.

…

"So it was just your group of friends and Cream the Rabbit on the island when everything transpired?" the golden tenrec asked, glancing between Sonic and the camera.

"Well, it was supposed to be but things didn't exactly turn out that way," Sonic replied before continuing to recount his story.

…

The moon had risen high in the sky, illuminating the dark, gloomy shadows that loomed over the raging waves of the mid ocean swell. Yawning and tired, the crew on board the ship had all retreated to their respected rooms to catch up on some much needed shut eye before the dismembarkment the next morning.

"Is the coast clear?" a gruff, raspy voice whispered.

"I think so," A more effeminate voice replied. "I'll check the deck." Slowly, a shadow dived from shadow to shadow, keeping clear of the light as the individual made her way to the main deck of the cruise ship. She darted her head from side to side, scanning the area to make sure there were no lingering passengers who could cause some trouble. When there was no sign of any life, the being stepped forth from the shadows.

The moon illuminated her body, dancing off the fox's red fur and getting absorbed by the black leather that she donned. Fiona Fox swiveled her head towards her companion, beckoning him over to her with a finger, rather seductively.

Her sneaky companion, the green furred hedgehog, finally made his presence known to the roaring waves and billowing winds of their environment. Scourge the hedgehog also was clad in black leather, mirroring Fiona's appearance.

"Where is the grub? I'm starving," he complained, taking a swig from the bottle of vodka that he had on hand.

"Well we shouldn't have stowed away in the engine room then. We could have hidden in the food storage but nooooooooo," Fiona rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"Look, I know it was an uncomfortable trip but just remember why we are here babe," Scourge smirked, wrapping his lanky arm around the fox's middle and bringing her in close to him, their hips pressing up against each other.

"Oh don't worry, I have a one track mind when it comes to the green stuff," a seductive smile crossed her face as she curled her tail around his middle area before breaking apart, rushing over to the main door to the boats dining hall.

"You're such a tease," Scourge grumbled.

"Well once we find the rabbit's safe and steal her winnings, then you can have a piece of this," she taunted, moving her hands down her body before turning and skulking through the door, her nose following the scent of the delectable food.

…

Gold glanced at her wrist watch while Sonic continued to recount the events that transpired prior to their arrival on the island. They were already 5 minutes into their broadcast and if there was one thing gold was, it was professional.

"Thank you for the riveting recounts so far but can we please skip to the part where you all arrived on the island?" Gold put on her most polite voice. Sonic smiled in return and skipped forward in his story.

"So after we all arrived and met Cream, she invited us all to a dinner in the grand dining hall of the island's mansion," he continued.

…

The large, marble structure served as quite the eye sore. It was a stark comparison compared to the rather underdeveloped island, with its windy gravel paths the snaked through the lush undergrowth. Small ivy shackles crisscrossed over the mostly untraveled path. The gigantic structure towered over the rest of the island, situated right in the center. The small, island was a quaint little slice of paradise, floating in the middle of the Mobian Ocean. It would only take about an hour's run around the entire perimeter, or a couple minutes for a certain blue streaked hedgehog.

Cream invited her 10 guests into the lavish dining room. They all took their seats at the mahogany table that stretched from end to end as the marveled at the fantastical glass chandelier the hung over head. A thousand small bulbs were shielded by an array of different coloured glass diamonds that caused a kaleidoscope of enchanting light across the room, twinkling in the guest's eyes.

"This place is simply divine," Mina breathed after everyone had taken their seats and stuck into their meals.

"By the way Cream. How come we are the only ones here? I would have thought that a place this size would need a sizable staff on hand to keep everything in working order?" Blaze added as she blew a soft breath on her boiling spoon of soup before sipping it elegantly. Next to her, Sonic threw elegance to the wind as he loudly slurped his soup indignantly, much to the annoyance of Blaze.

"Isn't he cute when he eats," Amy sighed, resting her head on her hands as she stared at him.

"I wouldn't say soup, that's just Sonic," Tails waved her response away as he began to converse with Mina, the two catching up on all the things the two had accomplished since the last time they had met.

"Thank you for inviting me," Shadow nodded towards the small rabbit, who blushed in response.

"It was my pleasure," she giggled, addressing the whole room. "I just wanted to share some of my appreciation as my thanks for all you have done for me. Your friendships are the one thing that I treasure above all else, especially the money. If I can use my winnings to make you guys happy, then it is my pleasure."

"Here's to friendship," Sonic raised his glass to the air.

"Here, here!" The group chimed in as they clinked the fragile wine glasses together before each sipping the red liquid held inside.

"I normally like to work alone, but even I have to admit that we have a pretty good thing going here," Rouge smiled as she downed the rest of her wine and began to refill her glass. Shadow nodded in agreement.

"Freedom fighters for life," Sonic pumped his fist in the air, glancing around the room to exchange smiles with each and every one of the group. The chatter changed to small talk as the group split into their individual conversations and began to get caught up on the events that they had all been through since their last group gathering over the rest of their meals. Eventually, the night grew long and the wine ran short. Yawns and stretches ran throughout the group like a plague as the drowsiness form travel began to affect them all.

"I can see you are all quite tired. Please, feel free to go to bed. I want you all well rested for the fun things I have planned for us tomorrow," Cream giggled in excitement. One by one, the group excused themselves and retreated to their respected beds, crashing on the comfortable mattresses until only four remained in the dining room.

"Well, I think I'm going to hit the hay," Amy stretched.

"See you in the morning Amy," Cream waved.

"You too Cream. Night guys."

"Well, I think that's my cue to leave as well. It was great getting to catch up with you little Cream. I can't wait to see what you have in store tomorrow." Rouge stood up and strode out of the room, her eyelids fluttering from exhaustion.

"I'm going to head off too. See you in the morning, Silver," Cream yawned as she retreated to the confines of her master bedroom, leaving the tipsy silver furred hedgehog to fend for himself, alone in the dining room.

…

"If I may interject," the golden tenrec interrupted Sonic after he had finished his sentence. "You all seem like such a close group of friends who had immense trust and respect for one another. That isn't at all like the group that I have heard about," she scratched her head in confusion, looking at Sonic whose gaze turned towards his ruby red shoes.

"I know. We were the best of friends. Closer than any other. However, after that unfortunate night, and all the ones preceding on the dreadful island, that would be the last time that we were ever that close or friendly. The last time… ever."

…

The sun had already broken through the thin layer of clouds that floated in the sky and dispelled the dark shadows that were cast on the land. Its glary rays shone through the drawn curtains through a crack, shining brightly on Blaze's eyelids.

"Ugh," she complained, trying to roll over to block out the light. However, the brightness only continued to intensify until Blaze was fully awake, unable to find her way back to the land of slumbers. In an annoyed groan, she got out of bed, slipped into her shoes and walked down stairs to prepare herself a morning coffee.

After Blaze had prepared the instant coffee into a ceramic mug, she proceeded into the lounge room to wait on the luscious couches until the rest of her friends woke up. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight which she witnessed.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Blaze screamed at the top of her lungs. In her complete shock, the mug slipped from her grasp and shattered into a hundred tiny pieces of shards as the rest of the guests were roused from their slumbers and rushed down stairs to investigate the source of Blaze's screams.

A wave of shock surged through the other 9 animals as they all gasped upon seeing the same sight that Blaze had previously. There, fallen backwards onto the small, coffee table was the body of Cream, her eyes still wide in shock. Blood was splattered all over the table and couch and had pooled on the stained carpet below. A thin line ran along her neck showing an indication that somebody has slit her neck with a sharp knife in the middle of the night.

"W…what h…h…happened?" Silver stumbled over his words, struggling to form a coherent sentence through his fear and shock.

"Cream… she has been murdered," Shadow spoke flatly, addressing the rest of the room.

"But we are the only people on the island," Mina chimed in, confused.

"Exactly, that would mean that…" Tails stopped as his eyes widened at the realization of his words. He croaked, unable to complete his sentence.

"Yes it would," Sonic narrowed his eyes before glancing at the other nine, frightened faces in the room. "Cream was murdered… by one of us!"

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of MoGHI. This was more of just a short introduction but things will heat up drastically next chapter :) Please review to let me know what you thought about the first chapter, it would mean a lot. Thank you for reading and I hope you are all excited for the chapters to come. Btw, speculation and wild theories about who the killer is or who might be next to die, if any, are always welcome. Thanks for showing your support and see you next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Welcome back to chapter 2. The reaction to this story so far has been very positive and I thank you all for it. I hope I can hold your interest further :) This story will have 10 chapters so I hope to see you all in the long run. Enjoy chapter 2_

* * *

Chapter 2

"Aaaaaaaaaaand welcome back to golden stories with me, Gold the Tenrec. The only show in which we take a look at the seedier stories that plague our citizens. Now Sonic, you said that Blaze had just discovered your friend's dead body?" Gold shifted her gaze from the camera to look back at Sonic. Although the sapphire hedgehog felt slightly bad for talking about his friend's sufferings, he felt like he had to share his story with the world.

"That is correct Gold. All of us ran down stairs as soon as we heard her scream and nothing on the face of this planet could have prepared us for the sight," Sonic told the tenrec.

"And did you think it was one of your friends from the start, or did that thought only occur to you after you discovered who the killer was?"

"Well we were the only people on the island at the time. But if I had known that-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get over zealous here," Gold stepped in, interrupting Sonic mid-sentence. "Let's not reveal who the killer is to our viewers just yet. Please, continue your recount," Gold concluded, focusing more on the ratings of her show than the turmoil of her guest. The longer she could prolong Sonic's story, the higher her ratings would be.

After the survivors returned from the island, word of the 'freedom fighter fiasco' shot through Mobius faster than any other news. Sonic and his fighters, the animals that used to be heralded as heroes until Eggman had finally been defeated and the citizens moved on, used to be known by all. When people heard about what happened on that island, they instantly wanted to know more. They wanted to know which one of their previous heroes who defended them from peril could turn to murder so easily. Gold knew this, and to get the promotion that she wanted, she would have to increase the ratings. Sonic's story was her ticket to the big leagues and she planned to milk it for all it was worth.

"Okay," Sonic complied with her instructions, facing to the camera again. "After we all assembled in the room, things begun to get a bit chaotic…"

…

"Do you really think one of us did this?" Tails asked.

"That seems highly unlikely," Silver added.

"I don't think anybody here could do something so horrible," Amy chimed in also.

"If one of us didn't do it that would mean…" Sonic trailed off, his eyes widening when the thought entered his brain.

"There is somebody else on the island with us!" Knuckles bellowed at the top of his voice, enticing gasps out of the rest of his friends.

The thought of Cream's dead body dissipated from their minds as the need for self-preservation took hold of them all. Together, they all turned and sprinted out of the mansion, following the small, over-grown path back the way they had come. They hastened through the main field of the island, passing the campfire pit and small wooden stage that had been constructed back when the island used to be the Green Hill Summer Camp until it was bought by the millionaire Maximillian.

The small dock on the edge of the island slowly grew in size as the neared it, but to their dismay, the gigantic cruise ship that had escorted them to the island was no-where to be seen. Sonic and Shadow, who had ran ahead of the others to scout out the location in case the possible intruder was awaiting them, skidded to a halt, sparks flying from underneath their shoes.

There, lying on the moldy planks of wood that served as the floor of the dock, lay two individuals.

"Scourge! Fiona!" Sonic gasped in shock.

"So it was you two!" Shadow accused, running over to grab both of their arms and lift them up. This harsh actions roused them both from their state of unconsciousness. Scourge babbled slightly, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to understand the situation. When his eyes locked with the angry, crimson ones that were staring at him, he quickly jumped back.

"What the fuck are you guys doing here?" He pointed at them. Fiona, still quite groggy from their late night of drinking, held her head in an attempt to satiate the throbbing pain that she felt.

"W…What happened?" she asked, the world still spinning.

"Why are you guys on the island?" Silver asked, placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath as the rest of the gang finally caught up to the two speedy hedgehogs.

"Fiona?!" Amy yelled out in surprise, narrowing her eyes at the fox that had caused her so much pain in the past. "I should have known it was you."

"What do you want, skank? Still sore that Sonic won't stick it in you?" Fiona taunted, causing Amy to visibly shake with anger. She rolled up her sleeves and marched over to the vixen who smirked at her.

"Girls come on, let's just all calm down for a second," Blaze and Sally cooed in unison, rushing over to stand between to two girls, trying to defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

"I can't help it if Sonic fucked me and not her," Fiona stuck out her tongue at the pink hedgehog, her eyes shimmering with mischief.

"HE WHAT?!" Amy yelled, throwing Blaze out of the way, causing her to stumble off the pier and fall with a mighty splash into the water.

"Blaze!" Tails called in worry, pulling off his shirt and diving off of the pier into the water to go help the cat, who had an irrational fear of water.

"Girls, stop this now," Sonic snapped angrily, silencing the two females. "This isn't the fucking time for this shit. Cream was just killed and you're fighting about this trivial crap!" Sonic scolded them. Amy shrank down, applying her puppy dog eyes to try to sooth the blue speedster whilst Fiona just scoffed in defiance.

"Wait… what do you mean Cream was killed?" Scourge asked, taken slightly aback.

"Don't act like you didn't know," Knuckles called angrily. "We know you two killed her!"

"Fuck off we didn't do shit," Scourge snapped back.

"Then how do you explain the sunken boat behind you?" Mina called out in accusation.

"If you give me a chance to fucking explain then I can," Scourge growled in response. "Fi and I snuck onto the boat because we were gonna rob the little rabbit blind-"

"How could you do that to her!" Silver blurted out, interrupting the green hedgehog who just scowled at him before continuing his story.

"We fell asleep after raiding the ships liquor cabinet but then suddenly the ship began to sink in the middle of the night. One of you fuckers must have sabotaged the bloody ship to kill us too! You're lucky we managed to make it off the ship just before it sunk."

"Probably the same person who killed Cream tried to kill us," Fiona sighed, enjoying the turmoil on their faces.

"And why should we believe you," Shadow replied coldly, not believing a word of their story. Scourge had had enough. He grabbed Fiona's wrist and pushed passed the ebony hedgehog, heading into the forest.

"I don't give a shit what you think. We didn't kill anybody and since one of you lot are a blood thirsty killer, we are not going to stick around to find out. Later," Scourge called, not bothering to look back at the remaining members as the two disappeared into the shadowy confines of the thick forest that covered most of the island.

Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Silver, Sally, Rouge, Mina and Amy all watched the two fade away into the forest as Tails and Blaze emerged from the water, collapsing on the golden sand that ran around the perimeter of the island with a mighty sigh.

"What… the… fuck… Amy," Blaze shivered, trying to catch her breath from her little freak-out that she had just experienced from the water. She bent over to cough up some excess seawater that had made its way into her lungs before she tried to speak again.

"Guys, everybody just needs to calm down for a second," Mina spoke, trying to take charge suddenly. "Maybe they lied, maybe they didn't, but the important thing is that we find a place to regroup."

"Good idea," Amy sighed in defeat.

"We passed a little camp area a few paces back. Maybe we should set up a small camp there and figure out what to do," Tails suggested. He was met with nods from the surrounding group.

"You are all my friends and I want to give you all the benefit of the doubt. I don't think any one of us is capable of murder, especially not the murder of innocent little cream. I think that there might be somebody else on the island, and if that is the case, we need to stick together now more than ever," Sonic stated, a grave connotation paired with his words. Together, the ten animals set off back to the campsite, all of their heads on a swivel as they remained ever diligent for any sign of a possible killer that was lurking just beyond their view.

…

"So Mr. Hedgehog, you told them all that you didn't think any of them could be killers?" Gold confirmed with Sonic who nodded in reply.

"At least… I thought none of them could be," he sighed solemnly.

"So when did you all decide that there was no killer on the island and that it was in fact one of your own that had murdered little Cream?" Gold asked, turning her attention from the camera, back onto the hedgehog.

"Well… not very long," Sonic continued.

…

Although the sun was still rising, indicating that it hadn't even passed midday by that point, the group began to collect firewood and leaves, piling them into the center circle that had been surrounded in a circle of rocks. The last thing any of them wanted to do was look around in the dense forest for wood after the moon had risen. Although the large mansion seemed a more favourable location to stay, the looming grimness of Creams dead body still haunted them all and that was the place where most of them assumed the killer had made their base of operations.

The area in which they chose to set up a little base camp was a quaint field surrounded on all sides by a dense forest with the winding path to the mansion to the east. The path circled around the circumference of the area, acting as a sort of perimeter to guard from evil spirits screaming from the forest, and led back out to the west, towards the wooden dock. Small, rounded logs were stuck in the ground, indicating the remains of once dominant trees that had previously loomed over the area, casing their grand shadows across the swaying grass. Small logs had been placed on top of them, bridging the gap which served as a nice bench for the animals to sit on and think.

"Guys, I feel kind of bad for them," Sally piped up after the group had fully converged in the area and all gathered around the central fire pit. "I know their intentions for coming to the island were of ill intent but we can't just let them fend for themselves with a lunatic on the loose."

"I'm with Sally, we should send some people out to go look for them," Mina chimed in.

"That's sounds like a good idea. Rouge, can you go with them just in case. Power in numbers," Sonic asked, casting his gaze over to the bat who seemed to be searching her nails for dust and dirt.

"Fine, whatever, but I don't do whining!" she sighed as she stretched out her arms before walking over to the two girls.

"Great, and while you three do that, I'll do a quick run around the island to check for any sign of a campsite or any sign of somebody else on this island," Sonic smirked, about to sprint off when Mina grabbed his arm in alarm.

"Why would you do that?" She asked quickly, before realizing that all eyes were on her. "I mean… didn't you just say he would be there. At least let me go with you, because, y'know, power in numbers and all that."

"Heh, thanks for the concern Mins but I'll be fine. I won't stop running and he won't be able to catch me if I see him," Sonic smirked before sprinting off into the forest. After Sonic had left, Sally and Rouge began venturing into the forest. Sally glanced over her shoulder, ushering Mina to follow with the tilt of her head in the direction that they were heading. Mina crashed through the bushes, away from the campsite to catch up with the two.

"Yeah, I'll catch up in a second, I just need to quickly go take a piss," Mina called as she hurried into the forest near the girls. Rouge breathed heavily in annoyance before leaning up against a tree.

"We'll wait here for you honey, but be quick," she called.

After a few moments passed, Rouge began to get a little bored and looked over to Sally who was leaning against a tree of her own, a frown present on her face. A wicked thought passed through Rouge's head as she smirked and called to Sally.

"So… you and Sonic. What's going on there?"

"What? Why do you think something is going on between us?" Sally mumbled, a small tinge of crimson crossing her face.

"Let's call it a bat's intuition. So how good is he in bed?" she laughed. At this point Sally's face had lit up like a Christmas light.

"Rouge… Sonic is just my… friend… we don't… have that kind of relationship," Sally said, quite flustered.

"So you do admit you have a relationship then," she winked, chuckling to herself. Sally opened her mouth to interject before Mina stepped out from behind a tree, startling the two of them.

"All done," she beamed. "Let's go!"

"Mina! That wasn't cool. You scared me half to death," Sally complained, her hand resting on her chest, trying to sedate the rapid beating of her heart after the jump scare that Mina had given her.

"Yeah, don't sneak up on a girl like that," Rouge threatened before the trio set off in search of the nasty green hedgehog and the vixen off a fox.

…

Tails and Amy sat next to each other, using sticks they had found to play a multitude of games of Tic Tac Toe in the dirt to ease their minds. Tails, after every move, would sneakily glance over to the violet cat and smile at her, getting a happy grin in return from her. Silver scoffed to himself, annoyed by the stolen stares that the two were sharing. It disgusted him.

'I've been in love with that cat for years and that stupid fox thinks he can just swoop in and steal her from me? He might be a genius, but he really needs to work on his social skills,' Silver thought, his arms folded sternly across his body. Shadow raised an eye, his gaze darting between Silver, Blaze and Tails before he let out a long, low, exasperated sigh.

"That's it, I'm officially sick of this," he sighed. "We need food, and since all the food is in the mansion then somebody has to go get it."

"Good idea," Knuckles cracked his knuckles, rotating his shoulders in circular motions as he got up from his laying down position on one of the logs. "I'll come with you, in case that son of a bitch who killed cream is lurking around in there."

"That gives me a good idea," Tails smiled, looking up at the two guys who were getting ready to head out. "I saw a small little surveillance building adjacent to the mansion when we entered. Maybe I can re-route some of the wires and get a feed from the security cameras situated around the house."

"I'll go with you," Amy chimed in, extending out her arm, waiting for Tails to help her up off the seat.

"Then we could find out who killed Cream! That's brilliant, Tails," Blaze smiled, causing Tails to cough in modesty and rub the back of his head.

"Ugh, yeah whatever, he's smart," Silver added sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he stood up, brushing off the dust from his pants. "I'll go help the guys get some food."

"No," Amy stated plainly.

"Why not?" Knuckles asked.

"I… err… what about Blaze? We can't leave her alone in case the killer comes looking for us. We need to at least stay in pairs," she added.

"Sonic will be back soon," Silver snorted.

"Silver, this is no time to be stubborn," Shadow spoke with an annoyed tone. "If Sonic comes back then you can come help us, but for now we need to stay in at least pairs. Tails is smart so he needs to go do his thing and Amy can help him. And no offense but Knuckles and I are stronger than you so we should go to the mansion."

"You wanna prove it?" Silver asked, rolling up his sleeve. Shadow stepped forward, his eyes daring Silver to take a swing.

"Guys, this isn't the time to be doing this!" Tails stepped between the two, mustering up some courage. He was running on adrenaline and fear at this point and new that turning on each other was the last thing they should do.

"Of course you'd step in," Silver scoffed.

"Tails, Shadow, just go do your thing. Thanks for the help. I'll deal with Silver," Blaze spoke to the two, shoeing them off with her hands. The patient feline waited until the four of them had walked far enough down the path and were clearly out of ear shot before she let the silver hedgehog have a piece of her mind.

"What the hell is your problem?" She screamed, raising her hands in the air for emphasis. Her patience had officially run its course and the traumatic event of discovering Creams body was enough to already put her more on edge than normal.

"My problem? What is your problem? You're supposed to be my best friend but all you do is take Tails' side all the time!" Silver retorted angrily.

"What do you mean all the time? Just then was the only time I took his side all trip!" Blaze yelled.

"I don't mean just now. All the time, whenever there is a discussion or argument you always agree with him. It is so frustrating!"

"Just because I agree with him doesn't mean you and I aren't still best friends," Blaze tried to reassure him but the anger in her voice wasn't doing the job of calming the riled up hedgehog like she wanted it to.

"Well you're always doing googly eyes over Tails and it's not fair. You're supposed to love me!" Silver bellowed before his eyes grew wide and his hands shot over his mouth in an attempt to shove the words back in. He instantly regretted saying it. His heart seemed to shrivel up when he saw the look of surprise and horror on his best friends face as she tried to process what he had just said to her.

"Silver… How lo-" Blaze began but was cut off by him.

"Just never mind. Forget I said anything. I'm going to take a nap," he waved her question away as he walked over to the other side of the camp area and lay down on his side, facing into the forest. He picked at the grass angrily, silently cursing his stupidity as Blaze just sat there watching him, not knowing whether to say anything or not.

Eventually, all the trauma, stress and confusing emotions between him and Tails took their toll. She eventually decided that talking to Silver while he was like this was just wasting energy and laid her back against the stump, letting her head fall down onto her chest. Hey eyelids grew heavy as sleep began to take hold of her.

…

"Sorry Sonic but I am going to have to stop you there for a moment," Gold chimed in, smiling her angelic smile at the hedgehog whilst he was mid-sentence.

"Yeah, what is it Gold?" Sonic asked, returning the smile.

"We just need to take a quick commercial break," Gold giggled, turning to face the camera. "Do you want to hear how Sonic and friend's impressive tale of survival concludes? Well don't touch that dial, we'll be back after the break," Gold spoke professionally, addressing the viewers.

* * *

 _A/N: Even with a killer on the loose, these guys still can't avoid unnecessary drama. It seems like some built up emotions and aggression is beginning to surface between the crew. Enough for a motive for murder yet? I don't know, that's up to you to decide. I've loved hearing all the theories so far, keep them coming. I won't reveal if anybody is close or not but they have been very interesting nonetheless. Please don't forget to review, it means a lot and helps keeps me motivated._

 _To clear a few things up: This isn't in Green Hill Zone, the name of the island is called Green Hill Island. The backdrop for this all (the interview) is set after the events on the island and no other characters apart from Sonic will be appearing in the flashbacks. Just Sonic and Gold (because if anybody else shows up then that means they don't die and would ruin some suspense. All you know is Sonic survived and that's all you will know until the end!) And finally, yes, the breaks between chapters are commercial breaks. Now I have an excuse to have chapters xD Until next time, thanks for reading._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Welcome back to MoGHI. There isn't really anything I have to say to preface this chapter so enjoy the read :)

* * *

Chapter 3

"We're rolling in 5, 4, 3, 2," one of the camera men bellowed before pointing to the tenrec to symbolize to her that they were back on the air. One of her interns that had previously been re-adjusting some blush to her face had quickly darted off just before they were put back on the air. Gold practically glowed, her beauty radiating as she began to re-address the viewers. She then turned to Sonic, who wore a crisp white shirt.

"So, when last we left you, you had gone running around the island to look for any signs that somebody else was there. You have also alluded to the fact that you knew that it was indeed one of your friends, but how did you know?" Gold asked.

"Well, you see…" Sonic pondered in thought for a moment, wracking his brain to try to remember all the finer details of his adventure on the dreaded island before he answered.

…

Silver held his head, pain throbbing from resting on a hollowed wooden stump in their make-shift camp ground. He was in a slightly cranky mood after being rudely awaken by the loud stamping of Sonic's red shoes on the gravel as the sapphire speedster sprinted up to the two resting inhabitants, screeching loudly to a stop.

"Could you approach more quietly?" Silver complained, still clutching his head in an attempt to subdue the increasing pain.

"No, guys this is serious," Sonic breathed worriedly. By this point, Blaze had been roused from her own slumber and offered the hedgehog a worried and confused look, indicating for him to continue.

"I did a lap of the whole perimeter. There was absolutely no sign of anybody, any camp or any water craft that somebody could have used to get on the island," he spewed out the words as quick as they came to his mind.

"But that would mean…" Blaze trailed off.

"That the only people on this island are the 12 of us," Silver finished, his eyes widening when the realization hit them. Instantly, the three of them darted their heads from left to right, glancing around to see if they could spot anybody lurking in the shadows. When they were sure that they had no surveyors, the trio all took a seat and began to discuss suspects.

"I think it's Tails," Silver stated plainly. "He is the only one smart enough to perpetrate this type of plan. Using his computer skills, he probably rigged the lottery in the first place to let Cream win just to set this whole thing up!"

"Silver, shut up," Sonic verbally attacked him without warning, earning a surprised yelp and defensive stance from the white hedgehog.

"Just because you're jealous doesn't make him a killer," Blaze defended the absent fox.

"I'm just saying, anyone of us could be capable of this atrocity so don't rule him out just because you have a boner for him," Silver spat back at Sonic who gripped his fists angrily.

"Okay, you raise a good point," Blaze breathed, trying to quell the situation. "It could be Tails. I'm also thinking it is Scourge. He probably made up the whole stuff about the boat to cover his tracks when he sunk it."

"That's true, he was pretty eager to leave us," Silver nodded.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Sonic said. Silver and Blaze sighed in unison before going through the list of friends and any possible motives for wanting to kill Cream. Eventually, Blaze spoke up again.

"I think we should also add Shadow's name to the list since he was the least attached to Cream."

"Now hold on a minute," Sonic chimed in.

"Stop defending everybody," Silver said, frustrated. "One of us did it so don't give everyone the benefit of the doubt."

"No… I mean hold on. How did Shadow even get invited? I don't think I have ever seen the hedgehog interact with Cream? He could have lied about it all," Sonic stated, thinking back to all their parties.

"That's a good point," Blaze added Shadow's name to the top of a crudely drawn list of all her friends that she had crafted in the dirt with a stick, displacing Mina and Scourge's names who had previously lined the top.

"Where is he by the way?" Sonic asked, looking around. Silver and Blaze both told him how Amy and Tails had gone to try to check the security camera footage and how Knuckles and Shadow had gone to raid the house for any food that they could all indulge in.

"I'll be right back. I just want to go check on the two of them," Sonic barked and set off into a run before Blaze or Silver had a chance to say anything more. After the dust cloud had settled, blanketing the two in dirt, Silver picked up the stick and wrote Sonic's name in the middle of the list of names.

"Why are you doing that?" Blaze asked, snatching the stick off of him.

"That guy likes to run off on his own a lot," Silver remarked.

"That's just Sonic. He always likes to go off on his own," Blaze replied.

"Let's not rule him out is all I'm saying," he crossed his arms.

…

The trees grew quite close together, making traversing through the dense forest quite hard for the three women. Sally had taken the front lines after both Rouge and Mina refused to take the brunt of the trek. Sally was cut by twigs and smacked in the face by branches as she tried to cut a path through the foliage for her followers. She began to get frustrated by their reluctance to help, opting to focus on how they look than the pressing matters at hand. After asking one of them to take the lead for a bit for the third time, she eventually snapped.

"Look, who gives a crap how you look out here!" She screamed suddenly, throwing her hands up in the air. "If you both haven't noticed, there is a bloody killer on the loose and we need to help save our friends. Now stop being so fucking selfish and try to care about anybody besides yourselves for once in your miserable lives," Sally finished. She turned her attention back to the brush ahead of her and continued to hack her way forward.

"What a bitch," Mina whispered to Rouge who nodded in agreement.

"She's just a bit sad that she doesn't have the curves that I do," she motioned to her body as Mina rolled her eyes. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a hidden little path that snaked its way to the left, avoiding the thick parts of the forested area. She nudged Rouge and pointed to the path.

"Shhh, don't tell little miss perfect over there. Let her play Tarzan and rough it while we stroll happily down the path," Rouge smirked as Mina joined in a quiet snicker as the two turned down the path, unbeknownst to the infuriated squirrel.

…

Shadow knew that he should be looking for food. He knew that separating with Knuckles when a killer was out there somewhere was a bad idea but he just needed some time to himself. Some time to grieve. He had been stuck with the rest of them ever since they found the body and he desperately wanted some time to himself.

 _"_ _We shouldn't be here long. Let's split up so we can gather some more stuff quicker. Meet back here in 20 minutes. If you're not back, I'm leaving,"_ he had said to Knuckles once they entered the house. Before Knuckles could say another word in protest, Shadow he slipped away without a word, leaving the red echidna to wander the house.

Shadow skulked up the stairs and down the hallway, closing the white painted door behind him to block out the rest of the world from his bedroom. He walked over to his bed, digging deep into his duffle bag to pick out a small silver locket. He opened it up to see a small picture of him and Cream, sitting under a cherry blossom tree smiling at the camera with their fingers entwined.

Shadow closed the locket and brushed over the small engraving on the bottom that had the letters CR and SH with a + symbol between the two, uniting them together in one sentence. Shadow turned the locket around in his hand before shoving it into the baggy pocket of the dark grey tracksuit pants that he had been wearing.

Afterwards, Shadow began to head downstairs to rejoin the red echidna, feelings slightly guilty for forcing his friend to do all the work. Meanwhile…

 _"_ _If you're not back, I'm leaving."_ Shadow had already left before Knuckles could interject. Knuckles felt a small rage begin to brew inside his stomach as he stomped over to the large kitchen on the ground floor of the mansion. He was sick of being treated like nothing. He was sick of being the butt of every joke and sick of that stupid bat constantly teasing him.

"Stupid Shadow," he grumbled as he began riffling through the many drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, looking for tasty food that he could bring back to the camp. "Always wanting to do stuff on his own. Typical," Knuckles continued to complain whilst he searched. It wasn't until he was startled by a voice calling to him from behind that he stopped his mental scolding of his 'friend.'

"Knuckles?" the familiar voice called out. Knuckles tensed up, clutching the cans of food that he had already grabbed. He turned slowly but once he saw that individual who the voice belonged to did he allow his muscles to relax and his guard to drop.

"Oh, it's just you, Wh…" he began but was cut off when the animal instantly lashed out, slicing Knuckles neck cleanly with one swift swipe. Knuckles' eyes bulged as he dropped the canned food with to the ground. He quickly brought up both his hands to press against the wound in surprise, trying desperately to stop the blood that began to drip down his neck.

Knuckles tried to scream but all the blood that had entered his esophagus silenced the screams and Knuckles coughed up blood, gurgling the crimson substance that had flooded his mouth. The echidna tried desperately to breath but blood filled up his lungs, causing him to fall to the floor. The individual who held the knife smirked before slipping silently out of the kitchen.

…

"What are their problems?" the agitated green hedgehog remarked, running his hands through his quills angrily. Fiona skulked behind him, thumbing her skinny jean pockets. She watched, intrigued at the reaction that she was witnessing from Scourge.

"Why do you care?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders carelessly.

"I don't. They just are so annoying. Always trying to be the goody goodies! You saw how they all turned on us instantly, Fi," he turned to look at her.

"Yeah but who cares. We know we're innocent so why should we care what they think?"

"I just do. I hate always just being thought of as the bad guy!" he kicked up the dirt next to him, creating a small dust cloud that stuck to his shoes.

"But we are the bad guys," Fiona purred, stepping closer to Scourge and wrapping her hands around his waist, letting them slowly lower to his hips. Scourge bit his bottom lip, mustering up all his courage to resist the temptresses gestures.

"Yeah but-" Scourge began but was interrupted by the sounds of Rouge and Mina as they walked up to the two. Scourge smiled, stepping back from Fiona but the fox just scowled at them, growling under her breath.

"Hey guys," Mina began, taking the lead.

"What are you doing here," Fiona barked at them hastily.

"W-we just wanted to say sorry for accusing you before," Mina stammered, taken slightly aback by the immense animosity that Fiona showed towards the two of them.

"Calm down kitty," Rouge addressed Fiona before turning back to Scourge, winking at him seductively. That gained a warning growl from the vixen. "We wanted to make sure you two were alright out here and thought you should come join us."

"You know… safety in numbers," Mina added.

"Yeah, two are better than one," Rouge blew a kiss at Scourge who smiled in reply. Fiona couldn't take this display anymore and instantly quipped a response.

"Why would we ever-" she began but was interrupted by Scourge who finished her sentence.

"Ever say no when the stakes are so dire. Of course we will accompany you back." Fiona's mouth fell completely agape, watching her boyfriend and partner in crime walk over to the two. "Come on Fiona, it's just until we get off this island," he urged her and after a moment of silence, she begrudgingly accepted and fell in line behind the other three as they walked along the trail.

Fiona marched in line behind Mina, Rouge and Scourge as she angrily swore all the profanities she could think of under her breath. She kept picturing the way the bat had flirted with her boyfriend in front of her and how he let her, smiling like a bumbling idiot the whole time.

'How could he help those dweebs?' Fiona's mind kept asking. Slowly, her anger against the whole group, but Rouge in particular, grew until she couldn't help herself and decided to get some sweet revenge on the oblivious bat.

The winding path twisted around a thick oak tree, passing by a big patch of mud in the undergrowth of the mighty tree's roots. Scourge jumped over the mud first before turning around and holding out his hand, helping Mina over unscathed. However, when he held out his hand to help Rouge, Fiona stuck her foot in front of the bat, causing her to fall to the ground. Rouge screeched as she fell head first into the mud, getting completely submerged from head to toe in the brown gunk.

"What the fuck?!" She screamed as she rose, her eyes ablaze with fury.

"Whoops," Fiona suppressed a laugh as she stepped passed the mud and continue along the path. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"How dare you get me all filthy!" Rouge spoke, lunging at the fox who side stepped out of the way just in time to avoid being tackled to the ground by the bat.

"Calm down, it was a simple mistake," Fiona chuckled, running ahead of the others.

"You will pay for that!" Rouge bellowed as she ran after the fox. "You better watch your step," she threatened, her voice turning slightly sinister as the thoughts of revenge clouded her thought process. Scourge ran after the two, trying to stop the oncoming fight before things got too far. Mina followed close behind, smiling to herself as she looked up into the dense canopy above her.

…

"Hello? Knuckles, Shadow?" Sonic called from the entrance. He pushed against the firm door and it creaked open slowly, allowing the daylight from the outside to slowly creep into the dark room, eliminating the shadows.

Sonic daringly entered the mansion, crossing the threshold as he stepped further into the home. He passed by the open, empty space that connected the front door to the rest of the house, shivering as his feet connected with the black and white checkered floor.

"S-Sonic? What are you doing here?" a voice asked as Sonic stepped into the lavish lounge room. Sonic turned to see the ebony hedgehog walk in from an adjacent room, his eyes casting an inquisitive glance. "I didn't expect anyone to come with us."

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright. Where is Knuckle-head? We should be heading back to the group," Sonic gestured towards the door, wanting to get out of the eerie mansion more and more with every passing second.

"He was supposed to meet me here about now," Shadow sighed exasperatedly. "It's always like him to be late." Sonic and Shadow decided to go seek him out, noting that he was probably still in the kitchen collecting food for the others. However, nothing could have prepared the two for the sight that lay before them.

Sonic was the first one to see the corpse. He gasped, covering his mouth as his eyes feel upon the deceased echidna, his neck cut and bloodied and his mouth lying open. Sonic could still make out the fear in his open eyes.

"S-S-Sh…" Sonic tried to say but was unable to form the syllables, let alone the word of his companion. Shadow stepped into the room, asking what was going on but was immediately silenced when he saw the body.

"Sonic… I swear… I didn't do this," Shadow instantly jumped to a defensive stance, holding his hands out in front of him and shaking his head vigorously. Sonic turned, all the colour had drained from his face and he liked like a ghost, and seemingly possessed by the revenge seeking ghost of the formerly deceased.

"You… Killed… Knuckles!" Sonic hissed, fear controlling his thoughts, anger taking charge of his voice and disgust instructing his body.

"Sonic, come on, you know me, I wouldn't do this," Shadow pleaded his case, backing up into a corner.

"First Cream, then Knuckles? Why did you do it?"

"I didn't kill Cream!" Shadow snapped suddenly, causing Sonic to falter slightly. The sound of his loves name and the horrid accusation fueled Shadow's movements. He knew he had to get to the others and prove his innocence before Sonic did. In the blink of an eye, Shadow turned and sprinted out of the mansion, making use of his super speed.

"You can't escape," Sonic shouted, giving chase behind the midnight hedgehog as the two raced back to the camp.

…

Blaze and Silver sat, an awkward silence enveloping them as they waited, their heads on a swivel, for their friends to return. Blaze perked up and Silver slouched further down as they saw a golden fox and pink hedgehog emerge from over the horizon, strolling down the path to the campsite. However, Blaze's happiness didn't last long as she saw the solemn expressions on the two animals faces.

"Tails, Amy, what happened?" Blaze asked worriedly, her mind instantly assuming the absolute worst. Amy, upon seeing her distressed face, consoled her friend.

"No, no, don't worry Blaze, nobody else is dead," Amy reassured the cat whose tensed body immediately relaxed.

"Then why do you look so disheartened?" Silver asked, joining the four. Tails offered him a smile but he turned away, focusing his attention on Amy.

"Well you see…" Tails began. "We went to the surveillance house but when we got there, we saw that somebody had sliced through the power. This means that we have absolutely no cellphone service, no power to the mansion and all the security cameras in the mansion are down."

"So basically we are screwed?" Silver asked.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Amy offered, trying to add an optimistic outlook on the group.

"What bright side?" all three replied on unison.

"umm… now that we know we can't get any service we won't have to keep checking so see if we have some?" she shrugged her shoulders. The three of her companions all sighed as they noticed Fiona, Scourge, Rouge and Mina emerge from the tree line.

"Hooray, you found them," Tails cheered as he rushed over to the group with the other three following close behind him.

"Hey, where is Sally?" Blaze asked as she noticed that the squirrel wasn't with the group.

"She was being annoying so we went our separate ways as we searched," Rouge shrugged, not really caring about the annoying squirrel as she was more focused on how angry she was at the fox who poked her tongue out at the bat.

"How could you just leave her out there?" Tails and Blaze cried out in unison.

"She'll be fine. I bet she will come return in a couple minutes," Mina reassured her group.

"Fiona," Amy stated plainly, staring down the fox.

"Amy,' Fiona nodded in return with equal disdain in her voice. Feeling the animosity, awkwardness and frustration that swirled around the group, Mina decided to speak up to change the topic of conversation and clear everybody's minds.

"So, has Sonic returned from his…" she trailed off as she noticed the list of names with the title of possible killers on top of it. Silver followed her gaze and quickly tried to rush over and kick up dirt to hide the evidence but Scourge was too quick and pinned the hedgehog to the side as the others ran up to read it.

"How could you just make a list to rank your close friends on how likely they are to be killers?" Amy asked, an undertone of ferocity in her voice.

"This is cold, even for my standards," Fiona barked.

"Why the hell is my name up near the top?" Mina squealed, her eyes narrowing at Blaze and Silver as she felt anger rise inside her.

"No… you guys don't understand," Blaze and Silver defended themselves.

"Blaze… I thought we were your friends. We aren't sociopaths that you can judge on our insanity, our likelihood to be mentally unstable or ability to be cruel killers," Tails remarked, his eyes not being able to look at her in the face. "Did you really write this up?"

However, before Blaze could respond to the disheartened fox, Shadow and Sonic sprinted into the middle of the group instantaneously, both puffing for breath.

"Everyone, don't believe him," Shadow cried, watching as an incredibly confused look was plastered over all of their faces. However, he watched as it was replaced with one of fear when Sonic spoke up.

"Shadow killed Knuckles!" Sonic screamed.

"How could you?" Blaze screamed.

"You monster," Tails added.

"Fuck you!" Silver blurted out angrily.

"I swear; I didn't do it. I was upstairs at the time, I promise!" Shadow begged.

"Why should we believe you? I bet you did kill Knuckles," Amy poked him.

"Why were you upstairs when you were supposed to be getting food?" Blaze asked accusingly. That's when a horrible thought popped into Shadow's head.

"It was you!" he yelled, causing another wave of confusion to knock into the group, even Sonic this time. "You must have framed me. And you were the one who "discovered" Cream's body," Shadow added air quotes around the word.

"That's ridiculous. She was with me the whole time," Silver defended Blaze, stepping between her and the accusing hedgehog. "You're just trying to throw blame on other people. First you murdered Cream and then Knuckles!"

"I DIDN'T KILL CREAM!" Shadow exploded in a fiery rage, surprising and startling everybody.

"Why are you getting so angry then?" Sonic posed the impossible question. Shadow looked down at his shoes. He knew he couldn't avoid the subject any longer. He had to come clean and admit it to everybody. The real reason that he was even on the island.

"Because… I… love her."

…

"And the plot thickens," Gold spoke, astonished at the turn of Sonic's tale.

"Yeah… I was just as surprised. So after he said that-"

"No, no, no," Gold interrupted again, rather rudely this time. "Before we can hear the rest of your tale we need to take a quick commercial break. Sonic sighed and nodded, getting rather annoyed about all the breaks.

"We'll be back right after these messages," Gold addressed the camera and all her viewers who were watching that nights programming.

* * *

 _A/N: Well looks like Shadow's big secret was finally revealed, but is he telling the truth or is this just a ruse to throw suspicion off of his back? Looks like the cracks in peoples relationships are showing. Blaze is annoyed at Silver. Silver is annoyed at Tails. Rouge and Fiona are at each others throats. Fiona is annoyed at Scourge's actions, but why did he agree to return? Everyone is mad at Blaze and Silver and also Shadow. Is he really the killer? What other secrets will be revealed next and who is the killer? Find out next chapter.  
_ _Thank you all so much for the reviews and theories that I have gotten so far. They mean a lot and I love reading what you guys thought of the chapters. This is an experiment for me but if it keeps getting such a great reception and keeps getting reviews, I might have to make another story like this in the future :) I love hearing all of your theories too but I can't say if anybody has gotten it right or not yet :P Did this chapter change any of your minds?_

 **Currently dead: Cream and Knuckles**


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Welcome back to another chapter of MoGHI. I know a lot of you have your theories, so let's see if you still think they are true after this chapter. Enjoy :)_

* * *

Chapter 4

Gold stood up from her chair, stretching her sore limbs before waltzing off to the bathroom nonchalantly.

"Um… Gold?" Sonic called after her, confused. "We're in the middle of a show."

"Calm down, we have a three-minute break for commercial. You'll be famous again after this show so just cool your jets. You can go to the toilet if you want too, just be back before 6:25," she waved his comment away as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Sonic looked around, watching the stage hands chatting quietly to one another, all absent mindedly going about their daily business like the show wasn't even being aired live. Sonic decided to quickly answer to natures call while he had time.

Shortly after finishing his business, he walked over to the sink and begun to wash his hands when he noticed the time on his wrist watch.

"Oh no, Gold is going to kill me!" he screeched, frantically plunging his hands under the running water that cascaded from the faucet before darting out of the bathroom back into the interview room.

"3,2," the cameraman finished as Sonic jumped into his chair just as the porcupine behind that camera pointed at the two. Gold went about her normal business, professionally welcoming back the eager audience to the show and reminding viewers who had just tuned in who her guest was this week. However, Sonic noticed out of the corner of her eye the passive aggressive look that she was shooting his way that had an air of waring surrounding it that told Sonic that he got lucky but he better not be late again.

"So Mr. Hedgehog, you had just revealed that Shadow told your group of his relationship with Mrs. Rabbit. How did they all take it?" Gold turned to Sonic, addressing him directly.

"Not very well," Sonic began again…

…

"What did you just say?" Amy asked with her mouth ajar.

"You all heard me. I said that I was in love with Cream," Shadow admitted again, scanning the astonished faces of all of his friends who glanced at him with a bewildered look on each of their faces. There was a silence that filled the air before Silver piped up.

"Well this is all fine but I need to go take a leak so I'll be right back." Before Blaze or any of the other island inhabitants could speak up, Silver had wondered off past the tree line and deep into the woods.

"Still," Sonic shook his head and regained his senses. "That doesn't mean you didn't kill her. If anything, that just gives you a motive."

"What is that supposed to mean," Shadow hissed through clenched teeth, fists at the read to swing at the cocky hedgehog as rage ensued through Shadow.

"I'm just saying that, what if she didn't like you back? Maybe you tried so hard to be with her but she refused and love blinded you. Maybe you tried one last time in the mansion but she said no and you lost your temper?" Sonic pushed Shadow to his limits. The anger and pain he felt ever since he discovered the mutilated body of Cream was enough to destroy any form of common sense that he had left. Shadow yelled angrily, sending a fist deep into Sonic's stomach.

"Shadow stop!" Amy yelled, jumping at the hedgehog and knocking him to the ground in defense of Sonic, who had stumbled back, clutching his stomach in pain as bile threatened to escape his mouth.

"Detain him," Scourge griped, rushing over to take his arms with the help of Fiona. Tails and Blaze rushed to Sonic's side to make sure he was okay while Shadow was getting tied down by Amy, Scourge and Fiona whilst Rouge and Mina sat back to watch. In the struggle, Shadow thrashed and writhed against his friends who tried their hardest to keep him under control when a small locket fell out of his grey tracksuits and bounced along the floor until it skidded to a halt in the dirt.

"What's this?" Rouge asked, walking over to pick up the fallen object.

"Don't you dare touch that. Don't any of you touch that!" Shadow warned, his voice full of sudden malice. Rouge slowly brushed the dirt off of the locket and saw the small engraving at the bottom which had SH+CR. Rouge couldn't help herself. She slowly opened it to reveal a small picture of Cream inside, beaming a heart-melting smile at the camera.

"S-Shadow…" Rouge began, looking on the hedgehog with new found admiration. "This is beautiful."

"What is it?" Fiona asked, noticing the silver sheen on the locket. Her keen eyes were always drawn to those of precious objects that could have further value to them. Rouge handed the locket around so that the whole group caught a glance of the romantic engraving and picture hidden within. Shadow was slowly filling up with anger, the rage flooding inside of him until her was about to burst.

Suddenly, before Shadow erupted with the embarrassment and anger that was welling around inside of him, Silver came storming out of the forest, hands flailing in the air and a look of extreme terror and shock on his face.

"S-S-S," he choked out, unable to create a coherent sentence.

"Out with it," Scourge scowled, still holding a tight grip on Shadow whose focus was momentarily taken off the locket that Mina now held in her hands.

"It's Sally!" he choked out, bending over and placing his hands on his knees as he greedily gulped up large quantities of oxygen to satiate his burning lungs.

"What about her," Sonic inquired, a feeling of dream forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Her body, through the forest…" Silver breathed heavily but before he could finish his sentence, Sonic had taken off, a cloud of dust left in his wake. He pushed through the dense shrubbery, eyes stinging from the leaves that smashed into his face but he stayed undeterred until he came upon the wretched old tree.

There, hanging from an old, bare branch was Sally. Her normally pristine aqua blue dress stained with the splotches of her blood. A long, thick nose made of sturdy rope was wrapped around her neck, concealing the horrific gash that had been sliced through her esophagus. Sonic let out a scream as he rushed over to her and sliced the rope, causing the limp, lifeless body of the once energetic squirrel to collapse with a thud to the ground.

"Sally," Sonic sniffed. "Who could have done this to you?" Sonic looked down at the deceased squirrel, shutting his eyelids to stop the impending tears that threatened to break through as he leant down and place a soft, swift kiss on her lips. He couldn't control hi emotions anymore. He jumped up, anger, loss, depression, rage all controlling his muscles as he sprinted back through forest and sprinted around the island. He passed through the mansion in his detour before he broke into the clearing and dived at Shadow, knocking the surprised hedgehog to the ground. Sonic reached out to his neck, brandishing a knife that he had snatched from the kitchen of the mansion.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell are you doing Sonic?" Shadow spluttered, not taking his eyes off of the threatening blade that was pushed up against his neck.

"You killed Sally!" Sonic screamed, pressing the sharp edge against Shadow's neck, causing a small stream of blood to trickle down his black fur to stain his baggy shirt.

"Sonic, get off him!" Tails, Mina and Blaze all stammered, trying to control the violent outburst of the sapphire hedgehog.

"Heh, I always knew he was a bit unstable. Nobody is that happy all the time," Fiona scoffed, lapping up each minute of turmoil between the group of friends. Sonic yelled more profanities at Shadow who took a few moments to shake himself out of the shocked state that he had found himself in to defend himself against the verbal onslaught.

"I didn't kill shit, Faker. If anybody, it was probably Silver. He had plenty of time to go kill her and hide the body until we all got back here. Then he went over to string up the body when he went to go pee to frame me!" Shadow accused Silver, pointing his finger at the hedgehog.

"Why would he do all that?" Blaze stood between the two hedgehogs, a wave of sudden emotion flaring up inside her, causing her to defend her friend.

"To frame me," Shadow offered a solution which suited himself.

"But-" Blaze was cut off when Shadow continued to talk.

"And anyway, how could I have killed Sally if I was supposedly off killing Knuckles at the same time? I was with Tails, Amy and Knuckles up until the mansion and when Sonic found me, he never left my side the whole time. I was never able to rush off into the forest, find and kill Sally," Shadow stated plainly.

"But, if it wasn't you then who was it?" Blaze queried. "It couldn't be Silver because I was with him the whole time. Until…" Blaze's eyes suddenly widened as she began to turn slowly on her heels to stare Silver in the face, trying to read his facial expressions. "Until…"

"Spit it out," Rouge mentioned, annoyed.

"I was the only one with Silver in the clearing while you were all off doing things until… I fell asleep. I have no idea what he did in that half an hour gap," she admitted, soliciting a round of gasps from the campsite's inhabitants. Slowly Sonic turned to Silver, his eyes narrowing as he snarled angrily at the anxious teenager.

Silver could have tried to defend himself. He could have tried to think of some excuse, some alibi or reason why all of their fears were misplaced but in the heat of the moment he made one fatal mistake. He ran.

Silver took off, without saying a word. The intense stair of Sonic coupled with the sudden fear and uncertainty in the look that Blaze was giving him was too much for Silver. He needed to get away, to think alone for a little while. So he sprinted off, smashing through the trees to get as far away from the rest of them as he could.

"Scourge, Shadow, help me get him," Sonic screeched as he set off in chase of the silver hedgehog, smashing through the tree line with the other two hedgehogs close on his tail.

"Well…" Amy spoke up after the short moment of silence surpassed. "Looks like all the hedgehogs are gone." Her attempt at a calming joke didn't do any work on lifting the awkward tension that wafted through the campsite, affecting Fiona, Mina, Tails, Rouge, Amy and Blaze.

After a few moments, Rouge decided to speak up, getting fed up with waiting around.

"While the _real_ men," she started, glaring at Tails half-jokingly as she said the hurtful words. She continued, "are off getting that murderer, I'm going to go have a shower and get all of this disgusting mud off of my body. Thanks for nothing, skank," she shot another insult towards the grinning vixen who laughed at her misfortune, thinking back to when she sent the bat falling into the muddy pile.

"Served you right," she scoffed as she turned her head.

"It's not safe with Silver on the loose," Tails piped up. "I'll accompany you to the showers and stand guard," Tails finished, puffing up his chest and placing a fist against his chest to imitate a buff man. Rouge's response was not what he was expecting.

"No offense, but I would rather little miss perfect over here guard me than you. I'd probably be safer, Hun," she giggled, pointing to Mina in the process of her taunt. Tails sulked angrily, walking over to sit loudly down on a stump, crossing his hands over his chest.

"Well just in case, we should probably accompany you," Amy decided, grabbing Blaze's wrist. "And it will get your mind off of all this Silver nonsense," Amy tried to cheer up the cat to little success. Tails watched the three girls walk off in search of the ground floor showers of the mansion, seething with anger and regret as his eyes darted between the bat and cat.

'Why is she so sad about Silver? Is there something going on between them?' his mind asked. Tails tried to swat the thoughts out of his brain but his insecure tendencies wouldn't let the thought escape.

"You thinking about Blaze and Silver?" Mina asked, walking up to Tails and placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. He nodded solemnly in reply, not making eye contact with her. "You know I'm always here if you would like to talk about it."

Tails looked up, noticing the sincere and sympathetic smile that she flashed him. Tails begun to get swept up by Mina's natural charm and charisma but a snarky snort from Fiona brought him back to his senses in an instant.

"Thanks Mina, but maybe when we are alone," he muttered, glancing at Fiona through his peripheral vision. She just looked his way, a small smirk crossing her face and her eyes tilting backwards slightly as she stared at him, knowing he was looking her way.

Tails sulked a little, trying to show little emotion at all but managed to stifle a giggle out of a certain fox who was enjoying tormenting the fragile fox. Meanwhile, Mina decided to better her time by making her appearance look slightly better after her adventure through the forest with Rouge and Sally.

Mina reached into her pocket and pulled out a small little pink capsule and opened the top. It was a screw off which revealed a small brush that was stuck to the lid upon being opened. She dunked the brush into the glittering pink liquid until all the bristles were absorbed in the ink before neatly and precisely applying it to her nails in forwards brush strokes.

Tails watch Mina at work for a bit, fidgeting with his hands and twiddling his thumbs. He felt annoyed being useless and didn't like being brushed off like he was a weak little nobody by Rouge and the rest of the girls. He wanted to prove them wrong. He wanted to do something constructive while they waited for Silver to be captured and the girls to return from the showers.

Tails stood up, stretched out his limbs and walked off into the forest. Not moments later, he returned carrying a bundle of sticks, which he haphazardly threw to the ground, causing a small cloud of dust to billow around the pile.

"What are you up to now, kid?" Fiona asked, genuinely confused by what Tails was constructing.

"Well if you must know," he stated, slightly annoyed. "I am constructing a makeshift cage that we can store Silver in when he is apprehended by Sonic, Shadow and Scourge," Tails concluded, not glancing up at Fiona.

"That's… actually not a bad idea. Nice thinking squirt," Fiona complimented him before walking up, snapping a vine off a nearby tree and returning to kneel next to him. Tails eyes widened as he turned to stare at the fox. She gave him a conniving smile in return before she began to tie the foundation of the logs with the make-shift rope that she had retrieved.

"Looks like you two have a handle on things," Mina commented before adding another coat to her nails. Fiona and Tails looked at each other before they both sighed and rolled their eyes simultaneously.

'Did she just, smile at me?' Tails thought to himself, genuinely surprised that Fiona was showing him actual emotion for the first time since he met her. The last time he thought that she was showing genuine emotions, she slapped him clear across a field when he was begging her to be good.

The time ticked on as Tails and Fiona busied themselves with the construction of the cage, trading the vine and logs until they had the beginnings of the foundation laid out. They even began to initiate some small talk, which was rare for both Tails and Fiona to ever do, especially together. They seemed to actually be having a sincere conversation.

"So Fleabag, what's with you and kitty cat?" Fiona asked, snorting when she saw his muzzle grow crimson.

"W-W-What do you mean?" Tails stammered, only fueling Fiona's chuckles.

"Calm down kid, I was just asking if you two were romantically involved," she reiterated. Tails looked at her for a bit, studying her facial features and eyes to be sure if she was genuine or just trying to find some dirt that she could later use to embarrass him. After sensing no ill intent, although he had been wrong before, he decided to open up to Fiona and let his guard down. Chaos knows that Tails needed some form of normality at that moment.

"Well I do like her, and I planned to ask her out but after all this went down, I don't know what to do," he admitted, looking down at his shoes in sadness. He flinched, jolting when he felt Fiona's hand on his back. She snapped it back as quick as she put it there, mentally scolding herself for coming on too strong too quickly.

"Look, don't give up. You have some charm to you, even though I'd hate to admit it. Any girl would be lucky to have you, Tails," she smiled. Tails couldn't help his mouth from physically dropping. She had never called him Tails before, let alone been kind to him. "Welp," she suddenly said after realizing the awkwardness that she left on the two. "This cage isn't going to finish itself. Let's go get more wood," she hurried off into the forest to gather more long, skinny logs, leaving Tails to watch the place she once stood.

"Come on Casanova, you can't let her be the only one getting logs," Mina commented, suddenly pulling Tails out of his trance.

"Y-You mean… you heard all that?" Tails asked, dumfounded and slightly embarrassed. Mina just nodded, giggling to herself as she watched Tails rush off into the forest to escape Mina's tormenting eyes.

"Pshhh, he'd be lucky to have me," Mina said aloud to herself before lying down for a quick beauty nap.

…

Amy and Blaze took the lead, peering in through the main doors, heads on a swivel to see if they could detect any movement in the mansion. After they determined that the coast was clear, Rouge pushed past them, knocking the girls to the floor, and hastened over to the bathroom.

"Ouch, you don't have to be so forceful," Amy whined, rubbing her sore arm as Blaze helped her back up.

"We are only trying to help," Blaze confirmed, nodding her head.

"Yeah, well you can help by keeping lookout, alright girls?" Rouge waved them over as she entered the pristine, white tiled bathroom and closed the door. Blaze and Amy let out audible sighs as they crossed the living room and took guard by the bathroom.

Rouge, disgusted at herself for letting this gross mud coat her perfect body slipped out of her clothes and turned on the water, holding a hand under the cascading water until the temperature heated up. She groaned in pleasure after she stepping under the torrent of water, letting the warming water soak her and wash of the mud stains.

"She sounds like she is having too good a time in there," Blaze snickered.

"Do you think that's the noise she makes when she orgasms?" Amy chuckled.

"I can hear you both out there," Rouge yelled angrily. Both girls had to cover their mouths in order to stifle their uncontrollable giggles. "Don't make me come out here," Rouge warned, only enticing more laughs from the girls.

Suddenly, Blaze felt something move its way up her throat and her hand trying to stifle her laughs was now being used to stop the vomit that threatened to exit her body. She made an audible heaving sound and Amy rushed over to her, asking her what's wrong.

"I think…" she began, struggling to talk whilst holding back the bile. "Something I ate doesn't agree with me."

"There is another bathroom just up the stairs," Amy replied, pointing to the second story. Without a second to spare, Blaze high tailed it up the stairs and rushed into the bathroom, letting all the vomit explode from her mouth into the formerly spotless toilet bowel.

"Is little miss perfect trying to lose weight out there?" Rouge spoke, amused. "I always guessed she was bulimic."

"Shut up, Rouge," Amy sighed exasperatedly, placing her thumb and forefinger on the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Rouge simply smiled to herself and she reached for the shampoo and soap. She lathered herself, causing her to have to steady her footing from the slippery surface of the shower floor.

That's when Rouge heard quiet talking coming from outside the door. She could just pick up a few greetings from Amy when suddenly she heard something that caused her blood to go cold.

"Ahh-" she heard Amy scream but was suddenly muffled by something, or someone.

"Amy?" Rouge called out, stepping back to the corner of the shower when she saw in horror as the door began to slide open an a certain individual crept into the bathroom.

"Get away from me! I'm warning you," Rouge yelled in annoyance. The individual, already holding a blood-soaked knife wrenched open the glass door of the shoulder, Rouge took her chance. She dodged a knife swing and proceeded to run out of the bathroom. However, her soapy foot slipped on the tiles and she slammed, head first, into the hard, cold floor of the bathroom.

She shrieked in terror at the top of her voice, holding her bruised and bloodied head as the killer lifted the knife and plunged it deep into Rouge's heart. As quickly as they arrived, the individual slipped back out of the bathroom and ran off, leaving the deceased body of Rouge lying, naked on the bathroom floor. A deep pool of blood staining the magenta carpet, mixing with the running water of the shower.

…

"What was that?!" Tails yelled as he pushed through branches and bushes and crashed back into the campsite at around about the same time that Fiona did as well.

"That sounded like Rouge!" Mina said, standing up and alert. The three animals looked at each other before dropping their things and sprinted off towards the mansion.

As they entered, they saw the violet feline, her hands ignited with a hot flame in her hand as she pressed it against the door, heating up the minerals in the marble frame.

"Help, the door is locked at I heard Rouge scream!" she yelled, pressing her hand harder into the marble.

"I got this," Fiona called, rushing over to the door and began picking the lock, a skill that she had all but perfected in her many… escapades.

"What happened to her?" Tails asked, rushing over to the unconscious body of Amy. He looked down at her leg which had a nasty knife wound sliced across her skin. A serrated bit of her dress hanging down her leg. The fuchsia carpet that ran along the corridor was bundled up slightly where her feet lay. Tails noted that she had probably tripped and fallen. He surveyed the area, noticing a small dint in the wall.

"Ugh…" Amy breathed.

"AMY!" Tails yelled with joy, rolling the hedgehog onto her back and shifting all his attention back to her. Tails winced as he saw the big bruise on her head. She groaned again, holding her head in pain as she squealed when she noticed the deep cut in her leg.

"What happened?" she asked, holding her head.

"I…I…" she wracked her brain, trying to recall what happened but she simply couldn't connect the thoughts in her brain after the knock to her head. "I remember coming back to the camp and talking about Rouge having a shower and then… nothing."

"Got it!" Fiona's voice cut through the two's conversation. Tails helped Amy up, allowing her to lean on him to remove the weight of her hurt, and bleeding leg as the two wobbled over to the door.

"We need to get a bandage on that," Tails said as he walked into the bathroom behind Fiona, Blaze and Mina. Suddenly, the room when silent as shock rushed through the room as they all looked upon the dead bat that lay on the ground.

Mina turned around and stared, first at Amy and then at Blaze.

"You were supposed to protect each other. This was all your faults!" she yelled, pointing an accused finger at the two. Unbeknownst to the others in the room, over the past few months Rouge and Mina had begun to spend more and more time together, developing a deep bond. "As far as I'm concerned… you both killed my best friend!"

…

"Whoa, so little Mina Mongoose has an angry side?" Gold chuckled as she looked towards Sonic.

"Yeah, you won't believe what she did when they all went back to camp," he smirked, before it suddenly turned into a frown when his thoughts drifted back to the now deceased Rouge.

"I bet our audience won't believe it either when we return on Golden Stories with Gold," she smiled her beautiful, captivating smile at the camera.

"So the four of them returned to camp-" Sonic began but was cut off by Gold.

"Sonic! Stop talking, we cut to commercial already," Gold hissed at him, before suddenly re-gathering her composure.

"Chaos, sooooooryyyyyy," he rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his body.

* * *

 _A/N: Well, there you have it. Another chapter down and another character killed (or two). So, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter and let me hear your theories. Have they changed? Do you know who the killer is? Who do you want to die next?  
Mina revealed that Rouge and her were best friends and she blames Blaze and Amy for her death, despite whether they are actually the killer or not, so what will she do now? Fiona and Tails had a little moment, but is this all just another act? Who gave Blaze the bad food, or was she never actually sick in the first place? Will Amy's wounds prove to be fatal? Will Silver be found by Sonic, Shadow and Scourge, and is he even the killer? Is Shadow off the hook, or will he come back under slander again? Find out next time!_

 **Currently dead: Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge**


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Welcome back everybody to another chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to write but I've been busy with uni and life but also planning out the sequel to Sonic high. Chapter one is officially in the works and looks like will be ready before the end of the month! Anyway, you came here to read this story so please enjoy. As well as the drama, murder and mystery that you are used to, we get to look into some characters past, as well as flesh out some new possible relationships? Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 5

Gold wasted no time in getting to the crux of the matter, welcoming the audience back a lot swifter than usual and turned directly back to Sonic. She knew it was un-professional but at this point, even the tenrec couldn't escape the captivating nature of Sonic's retelling of events and wanted to hear more. She had theories of her own and wanted to discover if she was indeed correct in her assumptions or not.

"So after they found Rouge's body, what happened next?" Gold asked, a lot more attentive and enthusiastic than she had been previously.

"Well, Mina began to lose it at the others as they returned back to the campsite to regroup…" Sonic began.

…

"What the fuck were you guys doing?!" Mina yelled, anger masking the sadness that she felt. It took the mongoose all of her willpower to stop the tears that threatened to escape.

"Somebody must have slipped something into my food last night," Blaze replied, still holding her stomach. The gurgling sounds were growing steadily louder and louder and every now and then the cat had to excuse herself to rush out of sight to vomit in the bushes. Each time Tails offered to help her, even carry her if need be but Blaze denied him each time, thanking him for his kindness.

"That's bull shit and you know it," Mina cast an accusing finger at the cat, narrowing her eyes in anger. "You had one job. To protect Rouge."

"Mina, calm down. It-" Tails began but was interrupted by the mongoose.

"You had one job," she repeated. "And you failed. You were the reason she is dead."

"Why do you even care? Since when were you two such close friends?" Amy spat, getting fed up by all the flame that was getting thrown Blaze and her way.

"Rouge was… she was my best friend," Mina sighed, letting a stray tear escape her eye.

 _Mina sat outside the studio, lost in a sea of tall, skinny blonde haired girls who were all reciting passages from the white scripts that they were all handed. Mina's palms began to sweat as her eyes darted around the room, watching the much more experienced actresses get called. Eventually, Mina's name was called up and she entered the auditioning room and recited her part. The director thanked her and, without saying anything or expressing any emotion, asked her to leave._

 _Mina rushed outside, straight to a bench where she buried her head in her hands and began crying her heart out, knowing that she would never be able to make it in the world of acting. It was there that the bat, who Mina recognized as one of the other auditioners that was previously in the room, sat down next to her._

 _"_ _Don't cry. This is my 7_ _th_ _audition in a row where I didn't get anything. You'll make it," Rouge cooed, taking pity on the little mongoose. Rouge remembered back when she began trying to get into acting after their final battle with Eggman and how it destroyed her self-esteem, which she worked hard to acquire._

 _"_ _But all I've ever wanted to be was an actress and I sucked in there," Mina wailed._

 _"_ _Hey, Mina… wasn't it? Look at me. Acting is hard, but don't give up. I'll tell you what. Next part, we can practice together. Deal?" The bat smiled at her. Mina nodded, laughing a bit at the niceness of a complete stranger as she wiped a tear away from her eye._

 _After that fateful day, the two begun hanging out a lot. They practiced for roles together, helping improve each other's acting skills, shared beauty tips and make-up, and divulged deep boy troubles and secrets together. The more they hung out, the more their friendship blossomed._

"Mina…" Tails breathed. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what would happen if I lost my best friend. If Sonic was murdered… I'd…" he trailed off.

"I know it's sad, but we can't go blaming others," Amy added in. Mina turned to her, getting right up in the pink hedgehog's face.

"And you!" she bellowed. "What even happened to you? Did you see who the killer was or not? You got stabbed and then what… You ran away?! Leaving Rouge to die on her own!"

"I…I…I," Amy stammered, but Mina was not letting up.

"And then, you clumsy idiot… you tripped and hit your head. You say you can't remember anything after when you and Tails were trying to fix the power?" At this point Mina was seething with anger, unable to control herself any longer.

"Mina, that's enough!" Tails yelled, surprising all three of the girls. Tails finally took a stand, standing between Mina and the two others in a protective stance. "We can grieve later, but this isn't the time or place for this. The killer is still out there and turning on each other is not the answer."

"Mina," Blaze turned to the mongoose. "I'm so sorry about Rouge, and you have every right to be mad at me and hate me forever, but can we do it after we get off this island?" Blaze pleaded.

"Whatever," Mina snorted as she pushed past the others and stormed off to camp.

…

The wind wept his face, stinging his eyes as Sonic ran faster and faster at speeds he doesn't normally achieve. He expertly dodged between trees and branches whilst continuing his blazing speeds. His thoughts were running wild. Images of Sally flashed through his mind. The attractive squirrel reading a book, sitting by the fire. Her posing on the cruise ship in her bikini, giving Sonic the thumbs up symbol.

His thoughts went further back, all culminating on the one occasion when all of his wildest fantasies came true. He remembered her stumble through the night, drinking way too much for her own good. He waved to the guests as they left his party, turning his attention back to the drowsy Sally. She shot him the look. The look that always caused Sonic to melt, his outward cool exterior shattering to pieces. He invited her upstairs, helping as she stumbled over to his bedroom. His inner self was screaming at him that this wasn't the right thing to do, but he couldn't help himself.

Their lips met and they became completely engrossed in each other. Sonic removed her shirt, un-hooking her bra as he stripped off his buttoned up short right off of his back. He pushed her to the bed, getting ready to pounce. The body of the white hedgehog lay tantalizing on his bed…

"Silver!" Sonic called angrily, rushing through his clouded fantasy, the fog clearing from his mind as he back tracked to when he passed the body of the hedgehog. Sonic sprinted up to him, lying down in the middle of a small opening in the canopy. The rays of the setting sun shone down from the sky, causing a warming glow to radiate around Silver.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, the flame of anger, regret and disgust emanating in his pupils. He jumped on Silver, piercing his nails into the hedgehog's shoulders as he got a grip on him. When Silver made no movement at all, Sonic yelled angrily at him.

"Get up, murderer!" he cursed but still, the white hedgehog did nothing. Sonic raised a curious eyebrow as he turned Silver over, still kneeling over the top of the body. When Sonic saw what had happened to Silver, he gasped.

The normally white neck of Silver was swollen, blue and purple prominently covering the area. His small windpipe collapsed in on itself. His eyes were slightly bulged out of his head as the killer clearly tried to pop them right out of his skull. Sonic, still positioned on top of Silver, brought his shoulders up so the Silver was in an almost sitting position and violently shook the body.

"Silver! Wake up you piece of shit! You can't be dead. You were the killer, you just had to be," he let a tear fly out of his eye, knowing that he couldn't serve any justice for Sally's death yet. The asphyxiated hedgehog's neck fell sideways when Sonic let go of his shoulders, and the limp body crashed back down to the earth.

"I fucking knew it!" A voice called out from behind a tree. Sonic swiveled his head to meet the accusing gaze of Scourge the hedgehog. "You were the killer!"

Sonic shook his head vigorously, realizing how this must have looked to Scourge after stumbling upon the body.

"I didn't do this! I swear!" Sonic yelled, standing up from the body. As he began trying to prove his innocence to Scourge, he heard another voice from behind him.

"You… You killed Cream!" Shadow bellowed. Sonic turned, meeting the furious glare of the ebony hedgehog.

"Shads, come on, it's not like this. I didn't do this." However, as he was focused on Shadow, Scourge rushed up to him and punched him in the back of the head. The world began to spin for a few short moments before Sonic crashed down to the earth. The last thing he saw was the two hedgehogs walking up to stand over his body before everything went black.

…

"What are you doing?"

"Throwing this jerk where he deserves to be!"

"Let him out!"

"He killed Cream!"

Sonic began to get groggy as he heard select voices pierce through the blackness, guiding him back to the realm of consciousness. He felt like he was flying through the air, soaring above the clouds in the vast blackness of space. No worries. No cares. Until he lost his rhythm and crashed down to earth, smashing into the rocky cliffs below him.

Sonic jumped with a start, rubbing his head as he felt his body smash into the back of the wooden structure. He looked around, noticing that all seven pairs of eyes were strained on him.

"Wh-what happened?" Sonic asked, rubbing his eyes as his senses began to return to him and he was able to take in his surroundings properly.

"You killed Cream and all the others," Shadow hissed at him through the hastily constructed wooden bars. Sonic's eyes widened as he walked forward, wrapping his fingers around the bars as he looked out at the others.

"Guys, you have to believe me, I didn't do this!" he pleaded, searching through the faces of his friends, stopping on the saddened eyes of Tails. "Buddy… c'mon, you know me."

"I… I don't know Sonic. They said they saw you strangle Silver," Tails muttered, looking down at his shoes.

"B-Blaze?" He questioned, turning towards the cat who refused to meet his eye contact.

"Silver might have gotten a bit jealous… but he was still my best friend. And you killed him! Go to hell, Sonic!" Blaze spat, turning to sit down alone at a log.

"Tails…" Sonic breathed, staring him directly in the eyes. "I didn't kill anybody." Tails looked into the emerald pools in Sonic's eyes, searching for any indication that he was lying. He found none.

"I… I believe you," Tails whispered. "I'll get you out of there, I promise." After saying that, Tails padded over and placed a consoling arm around the violet cat who finally let her pent up sadness due to Silver spill out. She cried into Tails' shoulder as he cooed soft niceties to try to cheer her up.

Sonic turned his attention back to the others, knowing that he didn't have that same connection with the others that he did with Tails, and tried to use logic to convince them of his innocence.

"Guys, seriously. How could I have killed Rouge, if I was apparently off killing Silver at the same time?" he posed the question to the remaining five who were still standing around the cage.

"It's a small island," Mina piped up. "And you are super-fast. You could have easily sprinted in, tried to kill Amy, dispatched Rouge and ran back to get Silver before he could escape."

"Are you kidding me? If I was that ruthless, I would have killed you all by now without waiting all this time," Sonic defended.

"That sounds like a threat," Shadow eyed the sapphire hedgehog.

"And I doubt you would since you are no match for Shadow, Fiona or myself," Scourge challenged.

"But guys," Amy suddenly spoke up. "I do remember something about the killer." This sudden information turned most heads, everybody looking at her. Her sudden confession even gained the attention of Tails, who was still sitting over with Blaze.

"I remember seeing something red, in the night, before being attacked. Sonic is blue, no red," she remarked.

"Hmmmm," Fiona piped up, scratching her chin. "Possibly like the red on that gigantic logo plastered over your shirt!" Fiona pointed an accusing finger at Sonic, and the red wording of his favourite brand name written across his chest.

"That proves it! It was dark and the lights were off but she definitely saw you in the mansion!" Mina yelled. The group nodded, all collectively agreeing with them as Sonic started to feel more and more desperate. He had been trying to keep his grief buried down within him. Trying not to let it warp his mind and decisions while he was still trying to protect the rest of his friends from the killer but he was left with no choice. He allowed his feelings for Sally surface again.

"I…I was in love… with Sally," he said, a tear falling from his eye.

"Y-Y-You were?" Shadow mouthed, suddenly feeling a tinge of sympathy for the hedgehog, knowing the pain of suddenly losing a loved one.

"You what?!" Amy screamed at the top of her lungs. Her eyes grew big and her mouth fell agape, almost hitting the floor with surprise. "But-But-But," she stammered, but couldn't finish a sentence.

"Sorry Ames, but I love Sally, not you," he admitted.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but I don't believe you," Mina said.

"Neither," Fiona scoffed. "You showed no grief after her death."

"I was devastated, but I tried to keep a level head, despite a slight miss-step when I attacked Shadow. It's the same with Shadow, Blaze and Mina. We get mad, but we can't give into our grief right now. We can't let it affect our rational thinking, or the killer will use our weakness to their advantage and finish us all off."

"Well, it's a good thing the 'killer' is finally behind bars," Mina stated. Scourge nodded his head. Shadow looked at the hedgehog, seemingly studying his face. Whether he believed Sonic's confession or not, he didn't show any emotion. Shadow simply kept his mouth shut, not wanting to cause any more fighting between the ground and went to sit on a stump alone.

"Guys, seriously?" He asked, his heart falling into the pit of his stomach like a brick as, one by one, they all turned from his cage and walked over to the campfire pit and took a seat. "Ames?" he asked, noticing that she still stayed at his cage.

"How could you?" she sniffed, finally turning to go sit with all the others on the other side of the field.

"GUYS!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to gather their attention but to no avail. Sonic let out a frustrated sigh, punching the wooden cage, that was surprisingly sturdy, and collapsing in a defeated heap on the floor as the sun finally fell below the horizon, marking the end of the horrid day.

…

"So they just left you there in there in the make-shift cage all night?" Gold asked, completely engrossed in his tale.

"They were all so hurt, confused and stupid," Sonic sighed.

"So did anything else interesting happen that night?" Gold asked, quickly allowing herself a sneaky glance at her wristwatch to make sure that it was not yet time for another commercial.

"Well, you could say that…" Sonic continued his recounts.

…

The fire crackled loudly, small spurts of golden embers flying out of the central flame and dancing on the frosty night winds. The fire, expertly created, burned brightly, creating shadows with its red and orange flames. Mina, Tails, Blaze, Amy, Scourge, Fiona and Shadow all sat around the fire, scooping out cans of baked beans that Shadow had brought back with him in a bag that he took from the mansion. The group wolfed them down, mostly ignoring the rumblings of Sonic's stomach from the cage he was detained in at the other end of the small field, alone.

Tails sighed, picking up one of the remaining cans and standing up. He began to walk away when he felt something grab his arm. He looked down to see Blaze holding his arm, a stern look on her face.

"Blaze?" Tails questioned, returning an inquisitive look her direction.

"Don't give him any," she spoke plainly.

"We can't just let him starve," Tails responded.

"He killed Silver, and countless others. He can go hungry," she replied coldly, a lot harsher than the fox had known Blaze to be.

"Even murderers deserve to eat," Tails concluded, shaking his arm free of her grasp and marching over towards the cage. Tails' accidently tripped on a small stick that was stuck out of the ground, stumbling a little and fumbling the can. The group around the fire chuckled quietly, causing a slight blush of embarrassment to form on his face. However, Tails was not deterred and continued up to Sonic, handing him the can.

"Thanks buddy," Sonic replied, eagerly wolfing down the contents of the can, not even caring that it was beans.

"I'll figure out a way to get you out of here," Tails whispered.

"I know you will, Tails. By the way, I can hear everything you guys say from over here."

"They know; they just don't care." Sonic frowned before Tails offered him an empathetic smile. "See you in the morning," Tails said his goodbyes before waddling back over to the group and taking a seat by the warm, toasty fire.

"So!" Mina sung out, finally finishing the thing that she was working on. She picked up a small little blackboard from behind her and placed it on her lap. In her hand she held a small little piece of white chalk.

"Where did you get that?" Shadow asked, although he didn't really care.

"A girl comes prepared for anything," Mina giggled before addressing the chalkboard again. She had drawn crude doodles of all the thirteen people that had been with them on the island standing in different parts of the board.

"This is everybody who was on the island," she began in a didactic tone. "And these are the people that have already been struck down by Sonic," she added, drawing a big 'X' through Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge and Silver. "Now as long as we stick together as a group, and not wonder off on our own, no more X's will have to be drawn," she concluded.

"This is stupid," Fiona mouthed to Scourge. However, Mina noticed her sly remark and asked what was so important that she had to whisper it to Scourge.

"I was just saying that this is stupid," Fiona stated loudly. "We already caught Sonic, so none of us can be killed. Why do we care. Let's find a fucking boat and get the hell out of this damned island."

"It's not like we can do anything until the morning anyway. Besides, finding a boat might not be so easy, seeming as we are kind of trapped here," Mina countered.

"Whatever, I don't want to stand here with you losers. Come on Scourge, let's go," Fiona commanded, gripping his wrist with her hands and urging him to follow.

"Fiona, no."

"What? You want to hang around with these losers?" she questioned.

"Look, Fi… I guess I should come clean. To all of you," he gestured the rest of the group. All eyes were focused on him, curious about what he had to come clean about. Even Sonic, who strained his ears to hear their conversation clearly, was hoping for a confession that would get him out of this freezing cage.

"I didn't exactly come here to rob Cream," he said, eliciting some gasps from the group.

"What? Why did you bring me to this island then?" Fiona through her hands up, not liking being lied to by her boyfriend of two years.

"Well… the truth is…" Scourge stalled, pondering how exactly to say this to everybody.

"Out with it!" Fiona yelled.

"Fine!" Scourge replied angrily. "The main reason I came here was because I wanted an excuse to hang out with all of you. The plan was for you guys to see the real me and… maybe… you would let me be part of the freedom fighters and we could fight together and I'd be invited to your parties and stuff and… yeah," he quickly blurted out at lightning fast speeds.

Everyone just stared at him, a blank look on all of their faces.

"You don't have to all be dicks about it. Whatever, it was stupid," he crossed his arms, shielding himself from the ridicule.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Amy asked.

"We would have given you a shot," Blaze added.

"No you wouldn't have. You would have just thought it was a trick and kicked my ass again." They didn't reply, admitting that it was probably exactly how they would all react.

"Are you kidding me?" Fiona said, baffled and annoyed. She let go of his arm and stepped back over to the other side of the fire. Above everything that was running through the fox's head, betrayed was the one of many words whizzing around in her brain that she could grasp.

"Fi… Come on…"

"Just shut up. Let's just go to sleep," she said, lying down and turning over so her back faced the rest of the group.

"Yeah, it's been a long day and some shut-eye would help all of our moods," Amy agreed. The group said their goodnights to each other before all dozing off, leaving only Scourge and Shadow awake.

"Hey, Scourge, you still awake?" Shadow whispered after trying without success to fall asleep.

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked.

"Welcome to the team," Shadow smiled.

"Thanks."

"They'll warm up to you eventually."

"I hope so," Scourge thought, yawning.

"It took them a long time to finally accept me after the incident with the space colony ark…" he admitted. "Even now I still don't feel like a permanent part of the team. You saw how suspicious Sonic and Amy got when Cream died. They all just called me the outcast."

"Well, look Shadow, I'm not one for the mushy stuff but you seem like a cool guy. If you ever need somebody, I got your back," Scourge smirked, locking eyes with the ebony hedgehog.

"Same with you, Scourge," Shadow nodded. Without another word, both closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep, happy in the knowledge of their newfound friendship.

…

Fiona slowly opened an eyelid, scanning the area around her. When she couldn't see any movement, or hear any talking she chanced a glance around. She lifted her head and checked on all the others. The fire had all but gone out at this point, leaving only a few burning embers surrounded by charcoal and the hot coals of the previous fire. She noticed that everyone, including Sonic in his cage, had fallen asleep.

She quietly stood up, being careful to make no sounds and began to tiptoe away from the campsite. He had almost made it to the past without waking anybody where she would be home free when she heard something that made both her blood boil and heart sink.

'Anybody but him,' she thought, sighing.

"Fiona? What are you doing?" a voice called out.

"Shhh!" Fiona hissed, turning around to see the fox boy, Tails, sit up. He was rubbing some sleep out of his eyes but was staring right at her. She rolled her eyes, knowing there was no way out of his. She lifted up a hand and beckoned him over to where she was with a finger, figuring that it would be easier to talk far away so nobody else would wake up.

Tails shot up and sprinted over to the fox, skidding to a halt in front of her, letting little bits of shredded grass fly from his sneakers.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like? Scourge might have gone soft but I sure haven't," she scoffed, staring daggers at the sleeping body of the green hedgehog.

"So that's it. After everything that happened, you're just leaving?" Tails asked, hurt flooding his voice. Fiona didn't know why, but she actually felt something in her stomach. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Guilt.

"Look I…" she began trying to explain herself when something snapped in her. She knew how this was going to end, and she was having none of it. She steeled herself mentally and pushed the horrible feelings of care and guilt deep down inside of her.

"I don't care about any of you. I'm going to do what I came here for. I'm going to go into that mansion, make my way to Cream's room and rob that rabbit blind!" she stated plainly and ferociously.

"So what? Was what happened between us today just nothing?" Tails yelled quietly back at her, tears brimming in his eyes.

"What do you mean? Nothing happened between us. I just felt sorry for you is all," Fiona scoffed.

"You and I both know that's not true. Why do you build these walls around you Fiona? Why do you push everyone who cares about you away?"

"You… you care about me?" Fiona asked, surprise emanating from her voice. Tails simply nodded, taking her hands in his and staring at her. She stared back at him, allowing that warm feeling that the little fox gave her begin to well inside of her again. She took a deep breath and shook her head, forcing the feelings further down inside of her, like she always had to do throughout her childhood.

Fiona had been through the ringer. She had loved and been hurt too many times. She knew that you couldn't rely on anybody else besides yourself, no matter what. The streets may not have been kind to small children, but they taught Fiona how to survive and how to be tough.

"So… who cares. You're just a little pipsqueak," she shoved him off, causing him to stumble backwards a couple feet and collapse on his back.

"Fiona… please… don't do this again… I know you. This isn't you…" Tails begged her, trying his hardest to reach into her to find that heart that he knew she had.

"You don't know me. You'll never know me. Nobody knows me," she looked down at her shoes, anguish flooded in her voice.

"Then let me know you. Let me help you. Let. Me. In," Tails stated, holding out his hand towards her. She glanced between Tails' hand and the trail that led off to the mansion. The gears in her head begun to spin, but the true decision was being made between her heart and the walls that she created to shield her from any more pain. After what seemed like minutes, she finally made her choice.

"You can't trust anybody but yourself," she said plainly, refusing to look Tails in her eyes. She turned and strutted off down the gravelly path, never once looking back.

"Fiona…" Tails called out hopelessly. She could hear the hurt and sadness in his voice, but she refused to let him get the better of her. Nobody would ever get the better of her again.

"Fine!" He yelled out. "Just go! See if I care…" he let his voice drop to a defeated whisper.

…

"I'm going to have to cut you off right there," Gold jumped in before Sonic could describe the events that happened that night.

"But we were just getting to the good part," he urged.

"That might be so but we need to take another break. We're only now just halfway through the show, you still have plenty of time to finish your story," she smiled at Sonic.

"But don't you want to hear what happened during the night?" he persisted, sick of taking all these incessant breaks for commercial.

"I do, but do our audience?" she turned to look at the camera, using Sonic's words as a Segway to run the commercials. "If they do, then make sure you stick around after a couple words from our sponsors!"

* * *

 _A/N: Well, thus chapter 5 comes to an end. Is Sonic really the killer or was it all a mistake? If so, then the real killer must feel pretty safe around that fire! What will become of Fiona now that she has denounced the group? Can Tails convince her to come back to them? What will Blaze do when she finds out about Tails and Fiona's little moments? IS a friendship forming between Scourge and Shadow? Who will die next? Who is the killer? Don't forget to review to let me know what you thought about the chapter, the backstories and character dynamics. And please, keep those theories coming. I love to hear new theories, and how old theories possibly change as new events happen in new chapters. Thanks, and enjoy the rest of your day!_

 **Dead: Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge, Silver**


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey everybody, sorry for the long break. I know it has been almost 2 weeks but I have just been really busy lately with work, uni and life. So many assignments and exams are coming up in two weeks time. Some good news however... The other reason this next update took so long (seeing as this was one of the shorter chapters) was that I have been busy working on Sonic High 2 (writing for 28 main characters is hard work!). I wanted to pre-write some chapters so that I could release them frequently over my exam period when I will have no time to write. I have completed two chapters and am halfway through the third. Since they are all about 800 words long each (double a normal MoGHI chapter) they take a little longer but hopefully the premiere of the sequel will come as early as May 27th! But for those of you who don't give a shit about that and just came here to read murder/mystery, please enjoy chapter 6 and I will try to get chapter 7 out before my short hiatus._

* * *

Chapter 6

The makeup artists finished fussing over Sonic's nose, after some of the purple bruising had begun to show throughout the show and scurried off into the wings of the studio. Sonic winced slightly, his nose still in pain, but he had been instructed not to fuss over it and be professional for the interview so he did just that. Instead, he tried to change his thoughts by focusing on the golden tenrec.

Gold sipped her piping hot cup of coffee secured in a cardboard take-away cup. As the cameraman began his ritualistic countdown from five to two, she quickly held out her arm. Without needing to say a word, an orange porcupine, who appeared to be the tenrec's intern, rushed up and grabbed the cup. He just managed to dart out of the view of the camera lens when the camera man signaled to Gold to start.

"Welcome back to Golden Stories with Gold. Today, I still have Sonic the Hedgehog with me recounting his experiences on the fateful night of the Green Hill Island murders. So, please continue," she addressed him formerly, turning to look him in the eyes.

Sonic couldn't believe how she could just go about her daily business and suddenly get completely ready within five short seconds. She must have been doing this a while to perfect the art.

"Well, anyway, Tails had gone back to sleep, still quite infuriated and slightly depressed due to his conversation with Fiona," Sonic began.

"I have been meaning to ask you about that. You have been retelling events that occurred when you were not present. How did you know what happened?" Gold interrupted, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"All in good time," Sonic smirked. "So anyway, Fiona had wandered her way down the path and arrived at the door of the eerie, deserted mansion…"

…

Fiona stalked through the night, slipping in through one of the windows left open. She couldn't bring herself to use the front door. No matter how much she hated Cream and Blaze, seeing their deceased bodies lying on the floor was still too much for her.

Fiona was quite skillful in the art of sneaking stealthily and quickly through the shadows, reaching a small, enclosed room on the third floor of the mansion. She recalled back to when Scourge and she had scouted out the place, trying to find where the rabbit was keeping all of her earnings. She retraced her steps of the previous night until she reached the same room with the big wall safe. She knew that this would be the spot that Cream would have kept her money, seeming as there was nowhere else in the mansion.

On the previous night, Fiona had discovered that there was a digital six-lettered password instead of a turn combination, which made it impossible for her to crack using her usual methods. However, as she skidded across the carpeted floor and stood up next to the safe, she recalled some information she had learnt. She knelt down and began pressing the buttons.

S-H-A-D-O-W

There was a satisfying ding before the lock released and the door swung open haphazardly. Fiona smirked devilishly to herself, rubbing her hands together and licking her lips at the prospect of how much money she was about to make. However, when she wrenched open the safe door forcefully, she was all but happy.

Inside the safe, was absolutely nothing. No cash, no coins, no cards. Nothing.

"Where is all the money?" She whispered aloud to herself, scratching her head in thought. Suddenly, a horrible thought crossed her mind and one by one, all the pieces finally fell into place.

"No. It can't be. If there is no money, that would mean…" Fiona thought aloud, but was suddenly interrupted by a slow clapping sound behind her.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Fiona swiveled around and locked eyes with somebody standing in the doorway.

"You were the last person I thought would figure it out," the individual chuckled, raising a knife. The metallic surface glinted in the moonlight, highlighting the malefic expression on the animal's face as they stepped closer.

"Why did you do it?" Fiona asked, darting her eyes around the room to look for a mistake.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"You'll never get away with it!"

"I already have," the intruder replied before pouncing at Fiona, knife outstretched. Fiona acted quickly, ducking under the swing of the blade and darting as fast as she could out of the room. Her assailant acted fast, bending down to grab a hold of the carpet with both hands.

The murderer quickly heaved the carpet backwards with all of their strength, causing it to shift underneath Fiona's feet. The nimble fox wasn't expecting the sudden change in surface and stumbled, trying to regain her balance. The assailant quickly took the opportunity to lunge at Fiona, shoving her off of her feat.

The last sounds that were heard before the mansion was thrust into another eerie silence was the blood curdling screams of revenge and the earth shattering crunch of Fiona's bones as she fell backwards over the banister and plummeted down to her death, colliding with the wooden floor below.

…

Scourge awoke with a start, panting heavily as he darted his gaze around the campsite. It took him a second to adjust to his surroundings. Near him, Blaze, Tails, Amy, Shadow and Mina all lay, seemingly fast asleep. He looked over to a disgruntled sapphire hedgehog contained inside a wooden cage that they had previously constructed, his eyes fastened shut.

Scourge yawned groggily before laying his head back down to rest. After a few seconds passed, he suddenly snapped his eyelids back open and sat up with a start, waking the sleeping hedgehog next to him.

"Scourge?" Shadow asked through a yawn as he stretched out his arms.

"Go back to sleep," he commanded with a rough tone, still not quite used to the whole friend thing.

"There's a nicer way to say it," Shadow replied bitterly as he cracked the bones in his back. "Seriously, what's up?" he persisted.

"Where's Fi?"

"Fiona? I haven't seen her. She's probably off taking a piss or something," Shadow shrugged before he lay back down.

"There's a fucking killer out there and we are just leaving her alone?" Scourge snapped back quietly at Shadow.

"Fiona can handle herself," Shadow retorted.

"I know but I'm not going to chance it. I'm leaving with or without you," he said dismissively as he stood up and began jogging away from the campsite.

"Hey, wait up!" Shadow called after the green hedgehog as he chased after him. His final call startled Blaze, who groggily began to sit up. She squinted, just making out the hazy figures of Shadow and Scourge through her sleep covered eyes.

"Guys, guys wake up!" she yelled, realizing that they were rushing away.

"What is it?" Amy asked, jumping with a start in an alert position frantically.

"What's so important? I need my beauty sleep for tomorrow," Mina cooed annoyingly.

"I just saw Shadow and Scourge rush off to the mansion trail," Blaze answered. A collective gasp ran through the remaining three animals.

"Probably off looking for Fiona," Tails muttered under his breath, still hurt from his previous encounter.

"Why would you say that?" Amy asked.

"Never mind, let's go and find them before something bad happens to them," Tails diverted her question. The group all began to leave the site when a familiar sapphire hedgehog called out desperately to them.

"Guys don't leave me here. Let me out and I can help," Sonic whined.

"You're a killer. We can't do that," Blaze dismissed harshly, the open wound from Silver, and many other's deaths still stinging her. Tails shot Sonic a submissive, sorrowful frown before turning and jogging off with the others.

The trip to the mansion didn't take very long, but it was sped up instantly when the group heard a faint, anguished yell coming from inside the mansion. They all instantly broke into a frantic sprint, hastening into the mansion. They dodged passed the body of Cream, who was still lying next to the couch, and rushed over to where the stairs were.

"Scourge, calm down," Shadow tried to place a comforting hand on Fiona's body but to no avail.

"Who the fuck did this?" Scourge cursed, turning around to scan the faces of the group.

"Scourge, let's just all take a deep breath," Mina murmured calmly, trying to defuse the tense situation.

"This was that fucking hedgehog, wasn't it?" Scourge bellowed, narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular. "I'll get that son of a bitch." Before anybody had time to comprehend and process his threats, Scourge had already blown past the encircling onlookers and sprinted out of the mansion.

"Oh, no!" Amy squealed. "He's going to take his revenge on Sonic!" She frantically begun running towards the exit. As the sudden wave of realization washed over the others, none of them were slow in following the pink hedgehog out of the door and down the gravel path. All except a skeptical.

"Something doesn't seem right here," Blaze muttered to herself, taking a moment of pause to look over the body. Apart from a small patch of the vixen's fur missing, there didn't appear to be knife wounds. "I can't see any signs of a struggle, meaning that she couldn't have been pushed off. She must have… aha!" Blaze smiled, noticing the corner of the third floor carpet hanging off slightly.

"Blaze, come on, let's go catch up with the others. I know a shortcut back to the campsite quicker," a voice called out from the door.

"Just a second. I think this is all starting to come together. The carpet, the fall… and only one person knew where Fiona would be going," she stated.

"Oh, but Blaze, anybody could have woken up and seen Fiona storm off. Besides, she can't have gotten ahead of me since I know all the shortcuts around this island. Don't you think I would have done my research beforehand?" the animal stepped closer.

"Yeah, of course somebody could have seen it and stalked Fiona, catching up through… through a…" Blaze's eyes slowly opened wider as the gears began to spin in her mind. "A shortcut that you said we can take back together…" she finished.

"Exactly… so come on… we should really get going," the voice mocked, taking a step closer.

"Yeah, you go on ahead and I'll catch up in a second," Blaze said, trying to remain calm. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow.

"Nah, I'll stay and wait."

"S-Stay away from me," Blaze warned, a small orange flame burning in the palm of her hands as she got into a battle ready stance.

"You really think that can work on me?" the voice mocked, raising a knife that had been previously concealed behind the individual's back.

"You won't get away with th-" Blaze began before the glinting knife was hurled through the air, meeting its mark. The sharp blade of the knife stuck Blaze right through the forehead, sinking deep into her skull, right between her eyes. Blaze felt the life suddenly escape her body through a final gasp as the fire in her hands fizzled out and dissipated into the surrounding air. Her knees buckled under her weight and she fell to the floor.

"I already did," the voice chuckled as the animal slipped out of the mansion, slipping through the aforementioned shortcut leaving Blaze the Cat, lying on her back with a large knife protruding out of her forehead, eyes still bulged open.

…

It had been about 10 minutes since his friends had all rushed off to investigate Fiona's sudden disappearance. Sonic was sitting back, resting against one of the wooden bars of the poorly constructed cage when he saw the first one of the group to re-emerge into the clearing.

"Hey Scourge, what happened to Fio-" Sonic began to ask but was cut off when Scourge wrenched open the door and gripped sonic by the collar of his shirt. "Hey what's the big idea?"

"You killed Fi," he stared angrily at her, his nostrils flaring with rage and a fire un-like any Sonic had ever seen burning in his eyes. Scourge pulled Sonic upwards into the air with all his force and threw him onto the dirt. Sonic rolled along the ground, coming to a halt as a small cloud of dirt billowed around him.

"Scourge, you've got it all wrong," Sonic replied, holding up his hands. "I don't want to fight."

"Neither did Fi. But that didn't stop you," Scourge accused before he pounced. Without warning, he had jumped on top of Sonic's body, pinning him to the ground with one of his hands. He positioned his knees around the hedgehog's body so there was no way for Sonic to get up before he began his assault.

Scourge raised his fist and brought it slamming down onto Sonic's face. His knuckles collided with the bridge of Sonic's nose, causing a shriek of pain to emanate from the sapphire hedgehog. Scourge, fueled by rage, brought his fist back up and slammed it down on Sonic's face again and again repeatedly. His continued to hit Sonic's with a barrage of punches, not letting up his onslaught for a second.

Sonic tried to wriggle out of Scourge's powerful grasp but he was unable to free himself. He just had to lay there and take punch after punch. His nose was bruised and bloody, red liquid trickling down from it. He was sure that it was broken, and with each consecutive hit, it felt more and more like it would never properly heal.

"Scourge, stop!" Amy and Shadow yelled simultaneously as they both appeared next, followed closely by Mina and Tails. Shadow grabbed Scourge by the waist and heaved with all his strength, sending Scourge flying backwards. Foam was still frothing from his mouth as he cursed the hedgehog's name.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Amy asked, skidding to a halt next to Sonic and kneeling down to look over his wounds. Sonic said nothing. He only coughed up blood.

"How dare you!" Amy barked at Scourge, standing up and marching over to him. She rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to show the hedgehog a thing or two.

"Quickly, Amy's getting out of control," Tails yelled to Mina and Shadow. Together, the three of them managed to procure Scourge, holding back his arms and body, as they hauled him over to the cage and threw him in. Amy grabbed the door of the cage and slammed it closed with all her might. The wooden cage rattled under the sudden force, but through its shoddy craftsmanship, it managed to stay standing.

"Why'd you have to do that? It was obvious you were the one that killed Fiona, and the others anyway," she spat at him.

"How dare you," Scourge yelled. "I didn't kill shit!"

"That's kind of hard to believe after that display," Mina chimed in, looking at him through the cage.

"Why the hell would I kill the love of my life?"

"Was she? She seemed pretty pissed off when she found out that you wanted to be a good guy, even though we all know how that turned out," Amy gestured to Sonic.

"That's bull shit and you know it," Scourge hissed. "Back me up here Shadow." Shadow remained silent, unable to look at Scourge after seeing the display.

"Shadow?"

"See, not even Mr. brooding himself can show you any sympathy," Amy hissed again, unable to contain her anger after seeing her beloved attacked by this creature.

"How could I have killed her? Shadow, you were with me the whole time," Scourge reasoned, slowly calming himself down so that he could produce a reasonable excuse to his alibi and whereabouts.

"That isn't any proof, Scourge. Fiona was dead quite a bit before we found her. Any one of us could have gotten up in the middle of the night and killed her. This whole display could be just an act. You guys did have a massive fight before she was killed," Shadow thought constructively.

Tails was kneeling beside Sonic, holding a paper towel over the nose as he helped Sonic to his feet throughout their conversation with Scourge in the cage.

"Thanks Tails, I'm alright," he murmured, walking over to the cage. "Well, well, well, look at the irony. The one who helped build this cage was the one who is now going to be stuck in it," Sonic murmured, trying to get some sweet revenge on the angry hedgehog.

"I'm not the killer and you know it!" Scourge demanded.

"Hey Amy, didn't you say that you remembered seeing red before?" Mina asked, turning to the distraught pink hedgehog.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, could it have been possible that you remembered seeing the red shades and flames on his black jacket in the night?"

"That would explain some things," Tails chimed in, placing his thumb onto his chin in thought. But we can't rule anything else out entirely until we have proof," Tails finished.

"Exactly," Scourge mumbled angrily, his rage steadily building again, only being stoked by Sonic's snide comments about irony.

"No, I think we just saw all the proof we need. He is unstable and probably fucked in the head," Sonic said plainly.

"Definitely. Scourge is our killer, without a doubt," Mina added.

"Agreed," Amy said confidently.

"Sorry Scourge. I thought we were really bonding, but killing people is unforgivable," Shadow added, turning his back on the hedgehog.

"You will all regret this!" He fumed angrily, grabbing the wooden logs that supported the make-shift cage as he tried to break them apart. However, the thick, sturdy logs were too strong for that angered hedgehog to break out.

"You're not going to escape and kill anymore," Mina stated.

"You better hope not little mongoose," he screamed. "Because you're all dead. I didn't kill any of the others, but now… When I finally make my way out of this cage, the rest of you are all dead!" he threatened, malice clearly evident in his voice.

"If that isn't a confession, I don't know what is…" Tails sighed, finally accepting the fact that Scourge had been the one killing everybody. Although he didn't want it to be any of his friends, he couldn't help but notice the weight that had seemingly be lifted from his back as safety flushed through his system for the first time in two days.

"Well, if we keep him in this cage and start working on trying to get off this blasted island then we can get work done without fear anymore," Mina chimed in, trying to lighten up the mood. Scourge just chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Sonic narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brows as he looked towards Scourge.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking of how glad I am," he smirked wickedly.

"Why," Amy asked, confused.

"I'm glad that I sunk that bloody ship!"

…

"So it was Scourge then? He was the killer?" Gold asked.

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" Sonic smirked, enjoying the look of annoyance on Gold's face.

"Well, if that was the case, then how did you all end up getting off the island? What did you do next? This can't be the end of your story," Gold said. Although she was intrigued, she secretly knew that there was still 15 minutes left of air time and they were scheduled for 3 more commercial breaks. There would be hell to pay and a figurative storm from her producers if they didn't get their precious ad revenue.

"Well, there is a bit more to the story. You see…" Sonic began but was immediately interrupted by Gold.

"Good. In that case, we should take this opportunity to cut to another commercial break. Do you think Scourge is really the killer? Or will Sonic's tale suddenly take another dramatic turn? Find out, when we return on Golden Stories with Gold!"

* * *

 _A/N: Well... hopefully that was interesting. A little short but a lot happened with some reveals. Is Scourge really the killer? That's for you to decide. But there are still 4 more chapters to go so what could possibly still be in store. Chapter 7 will have a little more character interaction and will build up the remaining survivors a little more before some big bombshells are dropped in late chapter 7 and mainly in chapter 8! Get excited.  
Anyway, please let me know what you thought about this chapter. Who do you think is the killer? Everybody has motive and reason and possibility at this point. We are really narrowing it down now. There have been clues littered around, a lot of them in this chapter, and if you really read between the lines, the killer is actually quite obvious :P For those who are wondering how Sonic can recount events that he wasn't even present for... it will all be confirmed later. Actually, I believe that exact plot point is revealed in chapter 8. So... Scourge, Amy, Tails, Sonic, Mina or Shadow... or somebody else who is 'dead'? Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter and your theory on who is the killer and, more importantly, why? See you next time :)_

 **Dead: Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge, Silver, Fiona and Blaze  
Alive: Mina, Sonic, Amy, Tails, Shadow and Scourge  
Chapters to go until end: 7,8,9 and Epilogue**


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hey everybody, I'm so, so, so sorry for the extra long delay (almost a month!) but i've just been really busy these past few weeks. I'm in the middle of exam period which started last week and so I've been busy with them. On top of that, I've been working feverishly on Sonic High: Emerald Lake in my spare time so I haven't had time to write this. Yes, this has had a little hiatus but the good news is that the Sonic High sequel already has 4 chapters published, so if you haven't checked it out yet... then shameless self promotion is what i'm dishing out :) Well, anyway, enough excuses... you've waited long enough so please enjoy chapter 7._

* * *

Chapter 7

"Hey Sonic, you're doing great so far but, just out of curiosity… how much longer

do you reckon your tale will take?" Gold asked as her an assistant of the tenrec's rushed over with a small glass of water, expertly not spilling a single drop.

"Can I have some water too?" Sonic asked, his throat parched from all the talking he was doing.

"Sorry but I'll need you answer," Gold retorted quickly before gulping down the entire glass of water, handing it back to her nervous assistant who legged it off set once Gold had finished.

"I can wrap it up quickly and leave out some important things, but otherwise I'd say another ten minutes," Sonic confirmed.

"Good, that way we can squeeze in two more breaks," Gold smiled, turning back to the camera as the stage hand standing behind it began his usual routine of counting down from five to two, signaling the cameras would begin rolling.

"But Gold, the wat-"

"Aaaaand, welcome back to Golden stories with Gold," the Tenrec began, adopting her bubbly persona once the cameras had begun rolling again. "For those of you who are just tuning in. I have Sonic the Hedgehog here with me and he was telling us about his time stuck on a deserted island with a bloodthirsty killer who used to one of Sonic's friends."

"That's right Gold," Sonic said confidently, sneaking her a dissatisfied glare for the way she refused him the water. "So anyway, as I was saying. Scourge had just revealed that he was the one who had sunken the ship…"

…

"What did you just say?" Shadow asked, his mouth falling slightly agape.

"You heard me," Scourge grinned evilly, showing his serrated teeth.

"Why would you do that? I thought we were actually friends!" Shadow pointed an accusing finger at the green hedgehog, his words dripping with anger.

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to be the fucking hero for once," Scourge bellowed, his words filled with malice. "Fi thought this was just a trip to rob Cream blind but it was always so much more than that to me. Every time Eggman attacked, every time some greater evil posed a threat I always try to save the day but every fucking time I get rejected. And what's worse? I'm seen as the bad guy by the public?"

"That's because you are the bad guy! You're a crook, a thief and are only in any situation for yourself," Sonic narrowed his eyes in disgust.

"You never gave me a chance. You always just fought with us whenever we met, so naturally, you and your goodie-goodie band just made me out to be a bad guy without ever giving me one chance," Scourge scolded them.

"Why would we give you a chance when you constantly tried to hit on me, whilst you were with other girls? It was disgusting," Amy moaned, her stomach gurgling just thinking of his deplorable advances.

"And I did give Fiona a chance. Many chances but I always just ended up getting hurt, even last night," Tails sighed, thinking back to the vixen lying dead on the cold, hard wooden floor of the large mansion.

"So what… you thought you would kill everybody and then be the hero? How were you going to do that, frame Fiona? The only other person here who believed in you?" Shadow growled, clenching his fist. The toll of both Rouge and Cream's death was weighing on his heart heavily and the thought that Scourge, somebody who he thought was his friend, killing them almost made him vomit.

"I told you I didn't kill shit," Scourge shouted again. "I sunk the ship so that you would all be stranded. Then, after taking some of Cream's winnings, I would reveal that I 'discovered' a boat on the other side of the island and would be the hero who saved us all. Then maybe you would have all given us a real chance."

"Wait… there is a boat to get off?" Mina piped up, looking around at the group.

"No… there isn't. I did a lap of the island before and there were definitely no boats," Sonic frowned, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Well, maybe the _real_ killer sunk it to keep me from escaping. They did a pretty good job and tricking you all into thinking it was me. Look around you. Sonic, Amy, Mina, Tails or Shadow. I know one of you did this to me and I swear to Chaos that when I find out who did it I will kill you myself," Scourge warned, shaking the wooden bars of the cage violently in an attempt to escape, but to no avail. Fiona, Tails and Scourge did too fine a job and making it sturdy and strong.

The five remaining animals all decided to leave Scourge, having enough of the argument for the time being and took the time to finally lay all of their insecurities to rest. Now that the killer was behind bars, so to speak, they finally had a moment of peace and time to properly think and morn all of their friends who have perished. Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge, Silver, Fiona and Blaze… all of them would be missed.

After an hour or so, Amy finally stood up, an idea brimming in her head.

"Guys, I think I know a way we could be rescued. Let's go diving in the wreck of our cruise ship. It's not far away and maybe we could get some supplies or something that would allow us to contact the main land?" Amy suggested.

"That's a great idea, Ames," Sonic grinned.

"If we find the ships portable radio, I might be able to fix it so we could signal any passing ships," Tails chimed in, agreeing to the plan.

"Anything to get us away from him," Shadow gestured to Scourge who watched them intently, unblinking with a scowl on his face.

"Then let's go see what we can find," Amy announced, leading the group towards the shore. The golden sands of the pristine beaches shone brightly, absorbing the heated rays of the midday sun. The serene sound of the crashing water of the curling waves added a peaceful serenity to this paradise of blood.

Slowly, the group of five began to dress into their swimsuits and scuba gear that they had discovered in the first night staying in the mansion and had retrieved before heading to the dock. After suiting up, they walked to the edge of the dock.

"We'll all resurface and meet up on the dock in, say, half an hour to see what we found?" Shadow suggested. The rest nodded in agreement. They all breathed deeply before Mina took the first plunge, falling deep into the aqua coloured water. Next Shadow and Tails jumped in, each setting off with Mina to swim down to the ship to see what they could find.

"Sonic… are you okay?" Amy asked, placing a hand on his back as the sapphire hedgehog took some sporadic breaths, nerves getting the better of him.

"Yeah… sorry… I'm just not the biggest fan of water.

"You can do it Sonic. I believe in you," she smiled at him. "We need to all do this together. Don't let all of our friend's deaths be in vein. They would want us to get home, and to see Scourge see justice."

"You're right," Sonic agreed, taking Amy's hand as he steeled his nerves. She helped give him the push he needed and together, they took the plunge into the deep watery abyss that was the ocean.

…

Half an hour later, as the sun past the apex of its trajectory and began to start its descent towards the ever expansive horizon, the five animals re-surfaced and swam towards the golden shores.

"So, did any of you find anything worth something?" Mina asked, removing the ugly black diving suit and flicking her hair backwards, allowing the water droplets to explode from her long, luscious purple hair in a display of beauty.

"Nothing here," Amy frowned as she shook her short, pink hair as well.

"I checked the captain's area but apart from his dead body, I didn't find anything. It looked like the communications were far to destroyed to be usable," Tails frowned.

"Add another person to the list of people Scourge has killed senselessly," Shadow remarked bitterly, folding his arms over one another.

"Nothing here either," Sonic added, patting down his suit to show he wasn't hiding anything. "Well, nothing except this!" Sonic held out a small, plastic cylinder with a cap placed at the top. He heaved the cap open, tipping the canister over and a small, old map fell out.

"A…map?" Mina questioned, looking over the parchment.

"It looks like a map of the mansion. One that you'd hand out at an open house for potential buyers or something?" Tails scratched his head, confused why it would have been on the ship.

"Yeah, I found it in Cream's cabin. She must have been given it when she rented out the island. It would make sense, seeing as that place is huge," Sonic shrugged.

"Hang on… what's that?" Shadow pointed towards a small extended room near the side of the mansion.

"Boat shed? Hang on! Boat shed!" Mina squealed with delight.

"How did we miss that when looking around?" Tails asked aloud to nobody in particular.

"Yeah, seems rather convenient that we all missed it," Amy agreed, laughing to herself. They all breathed a relieved sigh, marveling at their good fortune.

"I bet they have a small motor boat of some kind we could use to get off this stinking island," Shadow spoke plainly.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go find it!" Sonic cheered, rolling up the map as he raced off towards their campsite, followed closely by the others. Smiles were plastered on all of their faces as optimism and hope that had been zapped away from them over the past day was returned with an overbearing force. However, it didn't last very long.

"Oh no…" Sonic said with dread in his voice. The others caught up to him seconds later, gasping when their eyes laid beyond their campsite. There, in the area where they had left Scourge, was an empty cage lying on its side.

"He… he escaped?" Amy shrieked.

"That can't be. I constructed that cage myself. There is no way he could have escaped," Tails furrowed his brow, walking around the cage to inspect how Scourge could have possibly made his escape.

"That doesn't matter right now. Scourge is out there somewhere," Shadow remarked.

"We need to go, now!" Mina added, gesturing towards the mansion.

"Their right little buddy. We can think about how later. The important thing is that we get to that boat and get out of here now before he finds us!" Sonic spoke swiftly. He turned, along with the others, and began taking the well-travelled winding path up towards the mansion.

After a moment, the four disappeared from view but Sonic turned to look over his shoulder, noticing that the little kitsune wasn't trailing behind him.

"You guys go ahead, we'll catch up at the shed," Sonic motioned before sprinting back over to Tails who was squatting next to the cage, inspecting the door on the vine fashioned hinges.

"He just couldn't have…" Tails mumbled to himself.

"Tails, c'mon, I can't leave you here alone," Sonic sighed, grabbing Tails arm.

"You know me better than anybody Sonic. You know I can't just leave without figuring this out. If I was the one who built this too shabby, then I'll feel responsible if anybody else gets hurt."

"You are the one going to get hurt if you stay here by yourself."

"Scourge would be an idiot if he came back here. This would be the last place he would think to come," Tails asserted himself, confirming his ideas with words.

"Yeah but… what if he does?" Sonic was still unsure.

"If he comes back I can take care of myself," Tails placed a gloved hand to his chest. "We know I can't fly, but I can get a little bit of height with these things," he twirled his tails to show Sonic what he meant. "I'll just soar up and perch in one of the tree tops. He won't be able to get me."

"O-Okay…" Sonic sighed. "But come to the shed in ten minutes. If I don't see you in that shed in ten minutes, I'm going to come back out here and get you," Sonic's emerald eyes met the azure pools in Tails, showing that he was serious.

"Okay, ten minutes."

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise," Tails nodded, holding out his pinky. Sonic wrapped his around Tails' to cement the promise before speeding off down the road to catch up with the others who were nearing the mansion.

"Now… how did he escape this ca… hang on… what is this?" Tails noticed a small drop of blood on one of the wooden bars of the cage. He grabbed the size and pushed with all of his might, grunting with the intense effort it took as he rolled the cage over. There, staining the grass, was even more blood.

"It can't be…" Tails said aloud, putting the pieces together in his brilliant brain. He scanned the field, noticing something out of the corner of his eyes. He rushed over to a bush lying adjacent to the heavy line of trees that acted as the barrier between the field and forest.

Tails bent down and wiped his finger across the leaves of the bush, smelling it just to be sure that there wasn't just squashed raspberries staining the leaves.

"This is definitely blood. But that would mean…" Tails brushed the leaves aside. They parted willing with his force to reveal a shoe, then a foot, then a body and finally, an entire green furred hedgehog. Tails gasped at the sight of his throat. A wide, deep gash was present across his throat, slicing over his Adams apple. Dried, scabby blood trickled down his neck, staining the white shirt and black leather jacket that he wore over his torso.

Tails turned his head, vomiting into the bush at the horrid sight and putrid smell of the hedgehog. Tails scanned the body. That's when he noticed it. A tiny miniscule detail, but a detail none-the-less.

Tails grabbed Scourge's wrist and lifted it up, looking at his fingernails. There was something caught underneath the sharp nails. Something, obvious. Almost like…

"Oh my Chaos… it can't be!" Tails fell back in shock as all of the detail's began swirling around in his head. As his brain began to comprehend what it meant, the more all of the little things that had gone un-noticed made more and more sense. Each new connection he made was like an individual piece of an expansive puzzle that was being finished inside of his mind.

The final clue was the center piece, connecting all others and revealing the picture of the cynical, murderous killer that had plagued his group of friends since the very beginning.

There, hidden underneath Scourge's fingernails, obviously caught when the hedgehog scratched his assailant in a defensive attempt at survival, was a small tuft of hair with a very distinctive, and familiar colour.

"Wait… that would mean… The killer is with all of them in the shed!" Tails cried out loud. "I've gotta save them," he screamed as he jumped up and sprinted off towards the path, mansion, shed, and killer inside with the rest of his surviving friends.

…

"Wait… so what colour was the hair?" Gold practically shouted, her butt on the edge of her seat as she leaned towards the sapphire hedgehog. "Black? Pink? Purple? Blue…?" Gold narrowed her eyes as she looked at Sonic.

"Well, if you stop interrupting me and let me get a word in, maybe I'll be able to answer your question," Sonic laughed, enjoying Gold's squirming for answers. For once, she wasn't belittling him of just using him for her fame.

"Wait, don't tell us yet. Let's cut to another commercial break," Gold beamed, turning to the camera. Sonic's smirk instantly dropped to a frown.

'Nope, I'm still not as important as her precious audience,' he thought, folding his arms as he watched her address the camera.

"Who was the killer? Mina? Amy? Shadow? Was it even Sonic himself? Stay tuned after these commercial breaks," she smiled as the little red light dimmed before switching off temporarily. Gold quickly turned to Sonic.

"So, who was the killer? Camera's off so you don't need to keep the suspense going."

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you," Sonic smirked, reveling in Gold's dissatisfied frown. "You'll just have to wait until that little red light comes back on."

"You're no fun," Gold sulked.

"No spoilers," he laughed, enjoying tormenting the golden Tenrec too much.

* * *

 _A/N: Well there you have it. The killer has been discovered. And I'll give you a clue... the killer is either Sonic, Amy, Mina or Shadow. The hair was indeed black, blue, purple or pink. Don't get mad at me that Tails was the one who found out. What can I say? He is the smart one :P Don't think just because he is my accounts mascot means he couldn't have been the killer. I had a plan in mind for a couple individuals who could have been the killer, and Tails was in one of those plans but I decided to go with this plan in the end. Anyway, I'm really sorry for the long wait and I'll try to get these last 3 chapters before I go away in July for a skiing trip. But you guys know the drill, please let me know what you thought of the story and leave a review. What are your theories? Who do you think is the killer? Tell why you think it could, or could not be one of the four, I'd love to know why you think it is some or isn't others. The clues are there, throughout all the 7 chapters so this is your chance to show off. Did I make it too obvious? Was I not a good enough writer or will the reveal actually be a surprise? I'd love to hear from you and, until next time, thanks for reading._

 **Dead: Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge, Silver, Fiona, Blaze and Scourge  
Alive: Mina, Sonic, Amy, Shadow and Tails  
** **Left: Chapter 8, 9 and Epilogue**

 **Next time on Murder on Green Hill Island:  
The killer is revealed!**


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I hope you have all been following the clues and reading along with the story because it's finally time for the killer reveal. Maybe? Anyway, please enjoy chapter 8 of Murder on Green Hill Island!_

* * *

Chapter 8

"Welcome back to Golden Stories with me, Gold," the golden Tenrec smiled, flipping her long ears that normally stay flowing next to her head backwards like they were stray strands of hair. "And in case you are just tuning in, today I have Sonic the Hedgehog, famous hero and defender of the city back in the Eggman days."

"Hey," Sonic waved to the camera, flashing the lens his trademark, confident grin and gave a thumbs up.

"So, Tails had cracked the code, correct? So what happened next?" Gold asked, turning her attention back towards the sapphire hedgehog like a professional interviewer.

"Well, after the initial shock of the discovery, Tails rushed over to tell us all…"

…

 _"_ _I've gotta save them," he screamed as he jumped up and sprinted off towards the path, mansion, shed, and killer inside with the rest of his surviving friends._

Tails rushed off through the large open field, passing their small makeshift campfire pit with cool embers just clinging to their heated life lying at the bottom of the coals. His vision began to blur as his thought ran through his mind faster than his legs could take him through the field.

'How did I not see this before?' he thought to himself, piecing all the evidence together in his mind. 'How could I have been so blind? It was right there in front of me the whole time!'

Tails looked up, brushing his thoughts aside to focus on the one thing that mattered to him more than anything else. Getting to that shed and protecting his friends before the killer strikes again. However, what Tails didn't even consider after his discovery, was that the killer wasn't even in the shed at all.

Tails skidded to a halt, his heart beating faster than it ever had before inside his chest as he dug his heels into the ground. He kicked up dust, a cascade of dirt and grass swirling around before settling soundly on the grassy field. There, in front of him, was a certain individual blocking the only path to the mansion.

"Tails, there you are. Everyone is waiting for you so come on," the individual shouted over to Tails. Tails didn't budge. The animal took a step closer, then another and another as the gap between the sweating fox and them grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly, Tails found a burst of adrenaline coarse through his veins and determination ignited in his eyes.

"I know it was you," he spoke plainly.

"What do you mean?" the animal asked, tilting their head to the side in a confused manner.

"You killed them all. You sick freak!" Tails barked angrily, taking a defensive stance as he began to back away.

"Oh Tails… I should have known you were too smart for your own good. I didn't want to kill you, truly, but I guess it's too late now," the killer taunted in a sadistic voice.

"Ha, you wish!" Tails taunted. Behind him, his two tails, his namesake, began to twirl around. A small gust of wind began to billow around the fox as he jumped up in the air. Supported by his twirling tails that formed like a makeshift helicopter, Tails began to gain more and more height. He strained his face, clear that this motion was quite draining. Tails climbed higher and higher, listing towards the left, his aim set on a high hanging, think tree branch strutting out of one of the tall trees.

"Oh no you don't," the individual hissed as they pulled out a knife from behind them. They closed an eye, using a hand to take precautions aim before sending the blade hurling through the air at surprising speed.

Tails was caught completely off guard, not anticipating projectiles in his escape plan. The fox squealed out in pain as the sharp edge of the blade sliced through the air, cutting one of his tails clean off his body. The fox yelped in pain as sprinkler of blood spurted out of his wound, still spinning as it created a tornado of blood falling from the sky, staining the grass below.

With only one tail spinning, Tails began losing altitude as he was flung around through the air at the complete mercy of gravity like a plane without a wing. The last thing to come out of his mouth was a blood curdling scream as Tails brought both arms up to his face in an attempt to cease the impact of the cold, hard ground that rushed up to meet him. The individual watched, a smirk on their face as the kitsune smashed into the ground with a thud.

Tails' fragile bone structure completely cracked from the fall and every bone in his body fractured, shooting immense jolts of pain through his entire body. Tails tried to sit up, but his bruised and bloodied body couldn't give way. Tails couldn't do anything, struggling just to blink as the killer strolled casually over to his body, the knife in their hand glinting from the setting sun's rays.

"W-Why," Tails coughed, spurting up even more blood from his broken body.

"Revenge," the killer said as he brought the knife down on Tails' chest, piercing his heart as all the life, along with the rest of his blood, drained from his body.

…

"Mina, did you find anything useful?" Amy asked as she walked through the door and into the small shed. The shed was a cramped, supply shed with a whole assortment of different supplies. The shelves nailed to the far war were lined with different types of bait, fishing hooks and plastic containers to hold everything in. A large bucket sat in the corner with a multitude of long, thin fishing rods protruding out of it. In the center of the cemented floored shed was a small, tin boat with a rusty motor hanging off the back. The only saving grace about the dingy little boat was that it was already on a structured platform with wheels situated at the bottom for easy travel across land.

"Huh, what? Oh, nothing of use for our trip," Mina lied as she quickly stored away her nail file.

"Are you kidding me? You didn't even look, did you," Amy snapped angrily as she walked over to lift up the steel door to the shed. The sunlight streamed in, illuminating the dusty interior of the shed.

"Well you're one to talk!" Mia replied bitterly, hopping off the side of the boat where she was sitting. "You didn't get anything either!" Mina pointed an accusing finger at Amy's empty arms.

"Yeah but I least I was off looking through the mansion unlike you."

"Both of you, shut it," A deep voice snapped at the two bickering girls as a dark, ebony hedgehog stalked in through the hallway with nothing but a long, old rope slung over his right shoulder.

"See, Shadow went looking and he found at least something," Mina scolded the pink hedgehog forcefully.

"Yeah but at least I actually went looking like he did," Amy growled.

"I said shut it!" Shadow bellowed, silencing the two girls.

"C'mon Shads, I know everyone is tense because of Scourge on the loose but that's no need to get so angry. Besides, look what I found," Sonic grinned as he hurled a black box with a red cross plastered onto it with the words 'first aid' into the boat.

"What's that?" Mina asked.

"Bandages, medicine, disinfectant and other stuff like that," Sonic shrugged as he placed a hand on the boat. "Well, doesn't matter if Mina didn't go find things or if Amy couldn't find anything… the important thing is that we are all here. Now come on, help me push this boat before… wait…" Sonic trailed off, scanning the room. His eyes darted from the pink hedgehog to the beautiful purple haired mongoose to the ebony hedgehog.

"What's up?" Amy asked, feeling the nervous energy surrounding the sapphire hedgehog.

"Where's Tails? It's been fifteen minutes and he said he would be back in ten?"

"Haven't seen him," Mina replied nonchalantly.

"Neither," Amy replied and Shadow just gave a shrug and a silent grunt.

"Guys, he must still be at the campsite!" Sonic urged as he sprinted out of the garage and down the dusty, winding path back towards the campsite.

"Sonic, wait up!" Amy yelled as she chased after him, followed closely behind were Mina and Shadow. Sonic's heart thudded in his chest as he sprinted as fast as he could down the path and arrived at the opening in no time at all, puffing as he picked up dust all around him in a dense cloud. Sonic held his breath as the dust began to settle, allowing him to be able to see but he was never prepared for what he laid his eyes on.

"Sonic… you need to slow down sometim…" Amy trailed off as she saw what Sonic was staring at. Shadow and Mina walked up next to the hedgehog and all four saw the gruesome, bloody display of the broken, bruised and bloodied corpse of the one-tailed fox lying dead at the other end of the field.

"TAILS!" Sonic screamed as he rushed over and fell to the ground beside Tails. "How could Scourge do this to you?!" Sonic yelled up into the air, cursing the green hedgehogs name. He clenched his fist, pulling out a large quantity of grass from the ground and hurling it into the air as he screamed with a fiery rage.

"Sonic… you need calm down…" Shadow said shakily. Shadow wasn't one to get scared easily but upon seeing the shaking, rage fueled hedgehog's display, he couldn't help but feel slightly on edge.

"First Sally, then Blaze and now Tails. Not to mention Cream, Knuckles, Rouge, Fiona and Silver. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch, Scourge," Sonic swore, his eyes filled with a fiery blaze.

"Um, Sonic… I don't think it was Scourge that did this…" Amy spoke up. Sonic opened his mouth to reply but when he looked up to Amy, he saw what she was pointing at. There, sticking out of a bush, was the blood splattered hand of Scourge.

Sonic, along with Shadow and Mina walked up to stand beside Amy and cautiously peered behind the bush to see the gruesome display that Tails had only previously stumbled upon not twenty minutes prior.

"No… no, no, no, no, no…" Mina began to ramble, stepping back.

"Mina?" Shadow asked curiously, turning to look at her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she repeated more frantically. Her eyes began to fill with tears as the severity of the situation dawned on her.

"Mina… get ahold of yourself," Amy commanded.

"I…I didn't mean. This wasn't supposed to happen…" Mina mumbled to herself between her nonsensical ramblings of the same word, not unlike somebody in a mental institution or psych ward.

"Wait," Sonic narrowed his eye, glaring at the mongoose. "What do you mean by, this wasn't supposed to happen?"

Mina fished her hand into her pocket and pulled out her nail file that the others had seen her use almost constantly. She hurriedly pressed her thumb print into the file and a small ding emanated from the device. She pulled the device up to her mouth and spoke quickly and precisely.

"Sam, Dave, Bill? You guys there?" She asked. No response.

"Mina, what the hell is going on?" Shadow snapped.

Mina paid no attention to the hedgehog's angry words as she rushed over to a nearby bush and pulled out a small duffel bag. Mina unzipped the bag and pulled out a small tablet device which showed a green outline of the island with five red dots all flashing in the camping ground.

"Are they… us?" Amy asked, confused as she pointed at the five red dots. Mina began to frantically mumble again.

"MINA!" Sonic yelled, snapping her out of her little chance as he placed both his hands on her shoulders and shook her back to her sense. "What is going on?"

"I… I'm sorry. I just wanted to be famous again but this wasn't supposed to happen. Scourge was supposed to be the killer," she whined, tears cascading down from her eyes again.

"Wait… you mean… you planned all of this?" Amy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You killed Cream and Rouge?" Shadow growled angrily, rolling up his sleeve.

"You killed Sally and Tails?" Sonic added, gripping his nails deep into the flesh on her shoulders. A small trickle of blood flowed out of the spot where Sonic dug in his nails but Mina was too distraught to notice the pain.

"No… well yes I planned it but nobody was supposed to die…"

"Mina, explain or else," Shadow said plainly.

"Well… you see… after the whole Eggman incident I had been away from singing for so long so… my record label dropped me. I was okay with it though because all my life I had dreamed of being an actress. That's when Rouge helped me realize my dream but I could never land an audition. But that all changed when Cream came to me with the invitation on this nice little getaway," Mina began.

…

 _The small mongoose walked into the large, spacious office, trying with all her might to trip over herself wearing her fabulous high heels. She marveled at the sheer scope of the office. She walked up to the desk and was offered to take a seat in front of the big, burly purple walrus in front of her._

 _Mina looked behind him, out into the breath taking scenery of the wide expansive city laid out underneath her. From the office building, all the bustling animals rushing from job to job looked like little tiny ants._

 _"_ _So miss Mongoose. I hear you have a new show proposal for me," the walrus spoke in a gruff tone._

 _"_ _Yes sir," Mina nodded._

 _"_ _Now I know you were once a beautiful singer back in the day but I hope you know that the television business is a lot different to the singing industry," the walrus confirmed._

 _"_ _Yes sir," Mina repeated. "But I think I have a new reality show that will be just what your network needs."_

 _"_ _Well, I'm all ears," Rotor the Walrus sat back, intertwining his fingers as he lay his hands over his bulging stomach. The black suit and tie combo strained from his weight. Mina could see the stitches stretching at their seams, threatening to fall off in an instant._

 _"_ _Well… you see… Me and 9 of my friends were all invited to spend a week on an abandoned tropical island by my good friend Cream because she won the lottery," Mina began._

 _"_ _And what does this have to do with my network or a T.V show?" Rotor interrupted._

 _"_ _Simple. I propose a murder-mystery thriller program with all the suspense of a scripted show but with the intrigue and entertainment of reality. Set up camera's all over the island and have some stage hands pretend to kill off some of my friends. Create stand in fake bodies of all of my friends and make it look like they were killed. I guarantee that the thought that one of us is killing all the rest would make for the most entertaining reality and the drama that would ensue would be fantastic!" Mina finished her pitch._

 _Rotor leaned back in his chair, pondering her idea for a few minutes before he cleared his throat with a cough._

 _"_ _Mina… that is a cold hearted idea that would be traumatic for all your friends involved."_

 _"_ _Oh… yeah, I guess," Mina sighed, getting ready to leave the office._

 _"_ _But!" Mina ceased her movement and turned to the walrus. "It's just the kind of idea that will bring in all the ratings. It would cause so much controversy and morality debates, especially since your friends with Cream and the rest of the freedom fighters that used to be so popular, people will be talking about it for ages. It would rake in the ratings!"_

 _"_ _You mean?" Mina beamed._

 _"_ _Yes, you've got yourself a show to perform miss Mongoose," the walrus stuck out his hand, shaking Mina's to cement the deal. After some paperwork and further planning, Mina left the building with a pained feeling in her gut. She knew what she was about to do to her friends was deplorable but she needed to. No record label would sign her after such an absence, considering her old news, and she had failed audition after audition after audition. This was the only way to get famous again, and Mina decided that day that she would do whatever it takes. Once you get a taste of the lime-light, there is no going back. Ever._

 _…_

"What about when the ship sunk?" Sonic asked after her story. "Didn't you think that was a bit strange?"

"I just assumed that the produces had decided to sink it instead of sail it away to make it more believable for the rest of us. But Scourge wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to be the killer. The one that _I_ discovered. That's why I assumed he went missing… but… but this shows no other signs of life on this island except us four meaning…" Mina trailed off, bursting into another fit of sobs.

"It means that the real killer either discovered or previously knew about this stupid television show and killed off your 'helpers' before beginning their actual assault," Shadow sighed.

"I'm so sorry you guys. I didn't mean to put you through all this but I thought it was all fake," Mina sobbed loudly.

"How could you do this to your friends!" Amy snapped, angrily barking at the mongoose.

"That was unforgivable, you snake," Shadow said without any tone in his voice, opting to just refuse to look at the mongoose any longer.

"Sonic?" Mina looked up at the sapphire hedgehog who was sitting barely in front of her, mere inches away.

"That means that one of us is still a killer… a real killer… we can talk about this later," Sonic said plainly, looking at the dirt. "But now we need to figure out who is the real killer before any more innocent people die."

"Th-thanks Sonic," Mina sniffed, reaching out to grab his shoulder.

"Don't" he replied in a dead panned expression, swiping her hand away.

"Hang on! That's it!" Amy snapped her fingers. "The show!"

"What do you mean?" Shadow raised an eyebrow at the hedgehog.

"Mina said there were camera's set up all over the island to catch all of our reactions and interactions after the supposed deaths, right?" Mina nodded. "That means that we can just look at the camera that shows this area to see who killed Tails!" Amy concluded.

"That's a great idea Ames," Sonic cheered as Amy blushed. "Mina, where are the cameras?"

"There's one hidden up in the tall tree that overlooks the field, over there," Mina pointed to the thick tree that Tails lay under. The same tree he desperately tried to fly up to when the killer struck.

Sonic rushed over to the base of the tree and, with little effort, climbed from branch to branch until he was engulfed from view by the foliage. Shadow, Mina and Amy waited with baited breath until moments later after the sapphire hedgehog emerged holding a small, hidden camera.

"Quick, check the footage of the past twenty minutes," Amy urged. Sonic clicked into the storage and flipped back to the moment before they left.

Sonic clicked play and the camera showed a horrific state. It was hard to see who was the culprit from the angle and position of the camera that Mina had pointed out but it was evident that somebody had thrown a knife at Tails, slicing off his tail as he plummeted to the ground. It wasn't until the killer got closer to the body and finished off Tails that this specific camera got a good angle at the events.

It was then that the killer, after piercing Tails heart, stood up from the body and turned away to face the camera head on. Sonic gasped, dropping the camera to the ground. It smashed into pieces as its life died. Sonic turned his head slowly, turning to face the same person who he had just seen mutilate his best friend.

"H…H…How could you do this," he stuttered, staring deep into the cold, crimson eyes of Shadow the Hedgehog.

…

"Shadow! It was Shadow all along? But how? And why? And how did you all escape after figuring it out?" Gold clambered for more. Sonic opened his mouth to speak, ready answer her questions when she quickly cut him off for what felt like the hundredth time that interview.

"If you at home would like to know that answers to these questions like me, be sure to stay tuned after this last commercial break," she smiled at the camera as the red light shut off.

"Can't you let me get a single word in?" Sonic complained.

"We need to make the hour, Sonic. After we come back you will have five minutes to wrap up your story, so make sure you have your thoughts all worked out in your brain because I can't go over time and we can't end the program without a proper ending," Gold instructed the hedgehog.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sonic waved her away in dismissal as he thought about how he was going to finish, all the while Gold stared angrily at the rude response she was given by him.

* * *

 _A/N: Well there you have it. Shadow the hedgehog has finally been caught out. But the real question is, how did he get away with all the murders without being found out, and, more importantly, why? Find out next time on the finale of MoGHI. (I have decided to just put the Epilogue at the end of the finale so next chapter will indeed be the final chapter.  
Well, although Cream invited all of her friends to the island but it was Mina that orchestrated everything behind the scenes. She pinned the whole thing on Scourge though, so clearly something went horribly wrong. With the killer exposed and her little helpers dead, it looks like things might take a turn for the worse now that Shadow has been found out. But he loved Cream, right? Was he lying, or did somebody else kill Cream to insight a vengeful wrath? All the remaining questions and mysteries will be answered next time, but if you really read between the lines and piece together the clues, the answer is right there, staring you in the face! Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you thought and give your theories for the finale!_

 **Dead: Cream, Knuckles, Sally, Rouge, Silver, Fiona, Blaze, Scourge and Tails  
Alive: Mina, Sonic, Amy, Shadow.**

 **Next time on Murder on Green Hill Island:  
The Finale!**


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Well, here it is. The finale of Murder on Green Hill Island. Let's see if you were right about the killings. The who and why. Well, please enjoy this finale and don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you thought of the finale, and this story as a whole._

* * *

Chapter 9

"And welcome back to Golden Stories with Gold," Gold beamed. "It's time for the thrilling conclusion of the Green Hill Island murders, thanks to our first hand recount with Sonic T. Hedgehog. So, Sonic," Gold turned to the hedgehog. "Please, what happened after you saw your best friend mercilessly stabbed by Shadow."

"Sure…" Sonic said quietly, shuddering at the grin that Gold gave him. It was almost like she was enjoying watching him think back to the time. Enjoying it for the ratings. That's all the stupid Tenrec cared about. She didn't care about Sonic, his plight or the death of his friends. She was just using his story to become more famous… more famous than he used to be or has since become after the incident.

"Sonic… you were saying…" Gold rotated her wrist, signaling Sonic to keep talking while flashing him the fakest of smiles.

"Right, yes, so… I turned to Shadow and stared into his cold, crimson eyes…" Sonic began.

…

"Are you deaf?" Sonic screamed, throwing his hands up in the air. "How the fuck could you do this to us? Your friends!"

"I… I didn't do this. I swear it to you, you've gotta believe me," Shadow raised his arms up defensively to protect his body, weary that Sonic was about to throw a devastating punch. Shadow took a step back, not removing eye-contact from the frustrated hedgehog.

"Bullshit! We saw you in the camera," Amy snarled bitterly.

"Yeah, and it all fits together," Mina chimed in. "Amy said she saw red when her attacker tried to kill her. You have red eyes, red quills!"

"You were also with Knuckles alone when he went missing and were fast enough to rush into the forest and dispatch Sally when she got separated from the rest of the group!" Sonic accused.

"But why would I kill Cream? I loved her!" Shadow screamed in defiance.

"That was probably a lie," Amy spat. Shadow turned to the hedgehog and shot her daggers, silencing her.

"C'mon Sonic, you know me. Besides, why would I have done all this?"

"It doesn't matter Shads, you're the killer. All the clues add up. You were alone with Knuckles. You were alone in the forest when Silver was killed and when Amy was attacked. You were alone when 'searching' for the rope in the mansion. You have red _all_ over you. Everything adds up," Sonic said plainly, staring into Shadow's eyes.

"Exactly! Everything fits together too perfectly. For me to orchestrate this whole thing, I would have had to do a lot of planning. I would have had to scope out the island beforehand to know all the shortcuts. I wouldn't have been so sloppy. Every single death leads to me. If I really killed them all, why would I make it obvious?" Shadow spoke.

"That… that does make sense," Mina replied finally after silence descended upon the group for a bit.

"And you saw the footage. I stared directly at the camera. Mina said that her helpers had all been killed since their vitals weren't showing on her tablet. If I killed them, then I would have known where the cameras were hiding. Why wouldn't I shut them off before I killed Tails? Why would I look _straight_ at the camera that Mina pointed out? It's all too convenient," Shadow finished. Sonic raised his eyebrows, understanding the hedgehog's defense.

"Yeah but you were shown on the camera. We have proof!" Amy added.

"But something doesn't add up. You are known to be a really light sleeper, and don't sleep as much as the rest of us. Surely you would have woken up at night and seen Fiona leave. You would have been the only one to know where she was, and at what time apart from Tails," Sonic pondered, scratching the back of his head in thought.

"Wait… that's it!" Shadow exclaimed excitedly.

"What's it?" Amy and Mina asked in unison.

"Sleeping! I was worried after Fiona left in the night that the killer might try to strike us while we all slept. I brought a camera with me to take pictures of the island as a keepsake for Cream and myself. After that night, I set it up over there to face the road so if somebody tried to leave, we would be able to see who followed them. And it's out of the blind spot of the other camera," Shadow snapped his fingers.

"I bet it will show my innocence! Just let me get i-ugh…" Shadow began but groaned, cutting himself off. His eyes bulged wide as he felt an immense pain shoot through his body. Suddenly, Shadow let out a gut wrenching scream as he felt something sharp twist in his flesh before being wrenched out with tremendous force.

Sonic gasped as Shadow stumbled forward before falling flat on his face, a knife protruding from his back. There, standing behind him, with blood stained on her hands, was Amy Rose!

"Oh, no… look what he made me do," the hedgehog pouted. "What a waste of life. Such a shame, really. He was just supposed to go to jail, but now look at him." Amy looked up at the sapphire hedgehog that she adored, grinning with malice as she showed him her pearly white teeth.

…

"Wait… so the real killer was Amy? Now I'm confused," Gold interrupted him.

"It was simple, really. Amy tried to frame Shadow. She did from the very beginning. But her biggest fault was that she made it too obvious," Sonic confirmed.

"But, if Amy was the killer… then why? And how?" Gold asked, completely perplexed by Sonic's tale.

"Well that's the interesting part. So, after dispatching Shadow…" Sonic continued his story.

…

"A-A-Amy?" Mina and Sonic gasped.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," Amy sighed, wrenching the knife out of Shadow's back and cleaning the blood off of it with the bottom of her skirt.

"It was all after that night. That party where you ruined my life!" Amy yelled, brandishing the knife like a crazed lunatic.

"Whoa, whoa Amy, calm down," Mina raised her hands, palms facing Amy as she tried to calm the hedgehog.

"I'm perfectly calm," she cackled, tilting her head to look at the mongoose, twisting the knife in the air.

"What happened that night?" Sonic asked, taking sneaky steps backwards while Amy's attention was on the mongoose.

"Don't act like you don't know what you did, Sonic!" she cried out angrily, poking the air in front of him with the knife as she took a step forward, closing the gap that he had tried desperately to create between the two.

"I remember it like it was fucking yesterday. I haven't stopped thinking about that night in the months since then…"

 _The moon was enormous in the sky, illuminating the dark earth below. Sonic waved goodbye to his guests, leaving Sally and you alone in the house. I was walking back to my house when I realized that I had forgotten my purse at your place. I hurried back and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. It swung open, like it hadn't been closed so I decided to quickly get my things and leave. That was when I heard the thumping coming from his room._

 _I hurried down the hallway towards your bedroom, worried sick. I thought somebody was attacking you! I was coming to rescue you, my love! But how was I thanked for my act of bravery and heroism in the face of danger? A kiss? Something more? NO! I was thanked by getting to see you balls deep in another girl!_

"Nice," Mina mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she interrupted Amy. "We're all dead because you couldn't keep it in your pants."

"Not the right time Mina," Sonic glared angrily at her.

"Ahem," Amy coughed, brandishing the knife out in front of her, which quickly gathered their attentions again. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," she narrowed her eyes directly at Mina, twirling the blade.

 _I felt so betrayed. So devastated. I had spent the past who knows how long trying to get you to do that to me. I couldn't take the betrayal any longer. I couldn't sit by at let that… that slut steal you away from me. I rushed, tears streaming down my face, ruining my make-up and mascara that I did especially for you, over to the only person I knew that I could count on. My best friend… old best friend… Cream._

 _After telling her the story, what did she do? Did she comfort me? Did she tell me to never give up? No! She got excited. Cream went on and on about how she thought you two were sooooooo cute together and how she was the one that helped get you guys together at the party and made it happen._

 _My best friend betrayed me too! My best friend and my love both went behind my back to purposely ruin my life. I knew this was just a call for help though, Sonic. I was in love with you, and deep down I knew you were just confused and still in love with me. I just had to make you see it! That's when Cream said how she really wanted to have another party with all of us but instead of one night, she wished it was for like a weekend somewhere. So I began planning…_

"Amy, I wasn't confused! You're just crazy," Sonic yelled, taking a step back.

"Oh Sonic, don't worry my love. I won't kill you. We'll be able to live out our days here on this island. The basement in the mansion is quite spacious. I just can't have any witnesses… so she has to die," Amy pointed the sharp point of the knife at the mongoose who swallowed in fear. "Anyway," Amy smiled, looking back to Sonic and completely shifting her tone from malice to cheery.

 _I was the one who convinced Cream to come with me to get a lottery ticket, as a good luck charm since Eggman had finally been defeated for good. She was skeptical, but I can make that stupid rabbit do whatever I want. Afterwards, I bribed that echidna who reads out the numbers to do a fake taping of her picking out Cream's numbers that I told her was a 'prank' on my friend. Having a family friend in that kind of job really comes in handy! Anyway, after we filmed it, I quickly put it in the television and pretended that it was live, getting Cream over._

 _You should have seen how she reacted. She was so overjoyed that she let one important fact slip. She mentioned how she couldn't wait to tell Shadow the good news. Why Shadow, I thought, and that's when she finally came clean about their secret relationship that they had been having behind closed doors._

"But you were just as surprised as us when we found out about their secret relationship yesterday," Mina interrupted again, earning another snarl from the pink hedgehog.

"Just because you're a shit actor doesn't mean we all are," Amy giggled. "I just made sure to be the first one to react to him to make it that much more genuine. Whenever any of you thought about his reveal, my question right after is the first thing that came to mind. Simple psychology," she giggled again.

"But how did Cream afford this place if she never actually got the money?" Sonic asked, scratching his head.

"Simple. I found the owner of this little island and killed him. I left in his will that he would leave the island to me because I was his long lost relative. The police didn't even think twice. I just pretended to be the guy and responded to Cream's message when she tried to rent it," she said proudly before continuing with her story.

 _Shadow. The name kept spinning around in my head and it just made so much sense. Cream set you up with Sally, ruining my life so I would set up somebody she loved. Shadow would take the fall for her death and Sally's and you would be so sad that you would come running to me. It was perfect. I planted the seed in Cream's head about the mansion and helped her find the island that I owned and the rest you know._

 _However, fate had a way of intervening because when Cream invited Mina to the island as well, I did a little bit of digging, since I never knew her that well. Imagine my surprise when I discovered her little acting failure and her reality T.V show plan. I knew I could use the camera set up around the place to frame Shadow. When we arrived, on the first night in the mansion before I killed Cream, I made sure to go dispatch her little camera team on the island and shut off all the camera's except one. I knew Mina would eventually go check them and when she found one that worked, it would reveal the truth!_

 _I was quite proud of my Shadow mask. It looked so authentic from the far away view of the camera. It took me a month to get it just perfect, and I did have to steal some of Shadow's fur while he was sleeping to get it just right, but in the end I couldn't be prouder. The rest, they say, is history._

"So you've been planning this for months? The whole thing?" Sonic asked, his mouth falling agape at how far Amy went just to get revenge on him and try to force him to fall in love with her.

"Correct," Amy smiled, showing her teeth.

"So after killing my team, you killed Cream and then Sally. But why everybody else and why did you wait so long to finally frame Shadow? And how did you even do it? It makes no sense," Mina asked.

"I didn't think I would need the mask, but all of you were just so stupid," Amy hissed.

 _After dispatching Cream and cutting the power to the mansion, I had time while nobody was suspicious to rush off and take care of Sam, Dave and Bill, poor guys. Faking surprise was easy and from there it was simple. I made sure to go off with Tails when he tried to work out the wiring and electricity of the house. You know how the little fox gets absorbed in his work. He had no idea that I slipped away. I was just lucky that Sally was all alone since I thought I might have to take care of Rouge as well. I had the most fun I've had in years as I slit that man stealing squirrels throat. Her screams for mercy were ironic, considering she was pure evil. I made sure to hang her up for good measure. Did you ever wonder why Sally was hanging from the tree even though her throat was cut when no other body was put on show? I wanted you to see her for what she was. I wanted you to know the pain I did before finally breaking down. Then I would be there to comfort you, my dear Sonic. I'd put the pieces of your heart back together. The heart that would, has and always will beat for me._

 _After killing Sally, I quickly rushed back to the mansion and dispatched Knuckles. I'm already quite strong, but it was easy to overpower him because he thought I was friendly. With Shadow being the only person alone with Shadow and my alibi with Tails cemented, it wouldn't take long for everybody to place blame on Shadow and call it a day. But then all of you fucking forgot about him as a suspect after his little admission and all turned on Silver!_

 _I had to kill again, somebody close to Shadow. I needed to get him angry and lose his cool. Anything for you guys to turn on him. I didn't want to use my disguise because, as authentic as it looks, there was no way I could use it with that camera in that space at the time so Rouge had to go. To throw suspicion off of myself and further frame Shadow, I made sure to give myself a little flesh wound and ruffled up the carpet a bit. Then smashed my head against the wall to give myself a bruise._

"Wait… the dint in the hallway wall that Tails noticed…" Mina breathed, remembering the event and the detail Tails had shared with her afterwards. "I just assumed that must have happened when you tried to escape."

"I noticed Tails looking at it so I quickly groaned, pretending that I just woke up so he wouldn't inspect it any further," Amy replied before continuing her story.

 _I made sure to mention how, because the electricity was out, all I saw through the darkness was red. Shadow's red eyes and streaks in his quills but no… nobody picked up on it. You just threw Sonic in the cell because he found Silver's dead body. That was the hardest part of all this. While we all walked back I had to find a time to quickly slip away, faking needing to go to the bathroom. It wasn't hard to find Silver since I had the use of one of the little devices that I stole from Mina's little stage hands to show me where everybody was on the island. I just managed to slip away before you came smashing through the forest towards Silver._

 _They all blamed you and chucked my precious Sonic in a cell and that just couldn't be allowed. I stayed awake that night, waiting for somebody to wake up and go to the toilet or something so I could kill them, take some of their fur and put it on Shadow so we could have a 'big' reveal. Eventually Fiona and Tails had a little talk and the vixen stormed off angrily. I followed her into the mansion where she tried to rob a safe, which was ironically empty, and she fell of the balcony. I took a little bit of her hair and rushed back. Unfortunately, just as I got back I saw Scourge begin to wake so I had to ditch the evidence and pretend that I was asleep._

 _After Scourge rushed back to Sonic, I made sure I was the first person to leave so that the others knew that I couldn't have stayed behind. Knowing the shortcuts around the island from my initial stake out and preparation, I hid out of sight to make sure you all left the body. But Blaze just couldn't stop herself from playing detective. After I noticed that she inspected the body, I knew she would notice the hair and possibly even discover the actual crime scene on the third floor. Poor thing, figuring it out. I had to silence her._

 _It was easy for me to use the little shortcut that proved so handy to make it back to Scourge and Sonic first, which would have all added up to you guys. But Scourge went overboard and made all of you think he was the killer. That's why I suggested we all go diving. It would give me time to come finish him off and frame Shadow. However, Scourge put up more of a fight then I anticipated and didn't have enough time to plant my evidence. I only just made it back in the water before all of you came out of the water. I wasn't deterred though, since I just kept planting the seeds of doubt and knew eventually Shadow would be blamed. Besides, I was going to kill Mina next and frame him but little Tails stayed behind. I didn't want to kill him, truly, but he discovered Scourge's body and I just couldn't have that._

 _Thanks to all my time wielding my hammer, throwing it at enemies I worked up quite the arm and aim. It was easy to hurl daggers through the air. I made sure to quickly pull on one of Shadow's hoodies that I stole from his bag and don the mask before attacking. What I didn't count on was the brat would have hidden another camera. I couldn't risk it revealing the truth. He deserved to rot in prison for being with that back stabbing Cream. They aren't allowed to be together, not even in the afterlife, but he needed to die. Death was too good for him. For all of them, but I did what needed to be done!_

"You're… you're insane!" Sonic yelled after she finished her recounts. "I'll never let you keep me here. I'd rather die!"

"It was supposed to just be us two, Sonic. The survivors of a bloody massacre that a jealous hedgehog created because of our love and how the love of his life didn't love him back but now this is how it ends," Amy laughed.

"Amy, there is no love between us. There never was and never will be," Sonic spat, disgusted at the pink hedgehog that he once considered a close friend. Amy's eyes glinted with an obsessive passion as her smile grew wider.

"Well then, if we can't be together now, then we can just be together in heaven, forever!" She yelled as she lunged at Sonic.

Sonic jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the incoming onslaught of slashes from the crazed hedgehog thanks to his quick, keen reflexes. Amy growled a deep, guttural moan escaping her lips as a twisted from crossed her face.

"Stop running away. You're always running away from me," she bellowed lunging once more time, only to miss her mark again. She let out a high pitched squeal of anguish and frustration as Sonic took his golden opportunity. The sneaky, speedy hedgehog sidestepped out of the hedgehog's frantic slashes, grabbing both of her arms. He held her wrists tightly, trying to disarm Amy as he restrained her. She shouted and struggled, thrashing and kicking at the stronger hedgehog who was restraining her but he was just too powerful for her.

"Mina, quick, disarm her. I don't know how much longer I can hold her," Sonic breathed, clearly struggling to contain Amy.

"R-Right," Mina muttered, shaking herself out of the confused and shocked state that Amy's ferocious outburst had put her into. She jumped over, reaching for the pink hedgehog's hand and the bloody knife, still coated with the glistening crimson liquid that was Shadow's blood.

Amy roared, stomping her foot down as hard as she could on Sonic's toes. He bellowed in anguish and, in the moment his concentration was interrupted, Amy thrust her elbow backwards with all of her tremendous strength right into Sonic's gut. He loosened her grip, stumbling backwards whilst clutching his stomach, willing himself not to vomit from the impact.

Amy, now free, tightened her grip on the knife before slashing at Mina whose reflexes were too slow to avoid the blow after Amy broke free. The knife cut through the flesh on Mina's arm, opening a deep gash. Blood oozed out and Mina cried out in pain, falling to one knee as she clutched the wound in desperate attempt to stop the blood flow.

"You're as bad at fighting as you are at acting," Amy mocked in demented voice. Her deranged eyes glinted like the sheen on the scythe of the grim reaper stalking his next victim in the moonlight. However, just as Amy tried to stab Mina through the heart, finishing the little songoose off, Sonic dived over at Amy, wrestling her to the ground.

The two hedgehog's rolled across the ground, friction causing them to come to a stop as dust billowed around the normally pleasant field. The blade Amy wielded flew out of her hand, sliding to a halt a few meters from the two.

Amy and Sonic both looked at each other, exchanging glares. Amy's, filled with a psychotic love, highlighted to Sonic her unstable state as his fear reflected back at her through his emerald eyes.

"Quick Mina, grab the knife," Sonic yelled, rising to his feet as he tried to reach the knife but Amy was ironically too quick for him. She got onto her hands and spun her legs around in a circle, the heels of her shoes colliding with Sonic's shins as he made a desperate dash for the disarmed knife, causing him to collide with the ground. Amy jumped up and grabbed the knife before Mina had time to retrieve it.

"Sonic, run," Mina urged, rushing over to him, her hand pressed firmly to the open wound on her arm. She helped Sonic up, letting out a painful grunt as she used her stored strength to haul him up to his feet. Sonic cringed, the weight of placing his foot on the ground too painful after Amy knocked him over. It felt like he might have broken his ankle on the fall, or at least twisted it but the threat of the unhinged, knife wielding hedgehog was enough to shift the pain out of his mind.

Together, Sonic and Mina made for the woods, planning to outrun Amy in the dense forest. Sonic struggled, only barely keeping pace with Mina due to his injury instead of breezing through the trees like usual. Amy was hot on their tail, gaining slowly as the dodged and dived through the think undergrowth of the forested portion of the island.

Slowly, they made their way closer to the other end of the island. The canopy above them began to open up a bit and the green, vibrant leaves became more and more absent on the trees. The windy, framework of branches slowly transformed into bare branches, much like the icy, twisted fingers of a phantom, looming ominously above them. Sonic and Mina hurried along as fast as they could, slowing further with each passing minute as the succumbed more to their wounds until they reached a taller, thicker tree in front of them with part of a noose tightened around one of the wicked branches.

Sonic and Mina pushed through the pain, rushing over to the tree. Unfortunately, just as they passed the thick trunk of the impeding tree, Sonic's shoe caught a growing root that emerged from the ground like a pipe. He screeched in agony as his sore ankle buckled up from the sudden loss of motion and he fell forward, taking Mina down with him.

They both looked back up at Amy who had just emerged into view. She had struggled to keep up with them, losing them more than once in the dark, dense forest but seeing them both helpless on the ground not twenty meters ahead filled her with a sadistic glee.

"Till death do us part," she whispered as she sprinted at Sonic, the knife brandished in her outstretched hand. The crazed flame in her eye burned brighter than ever as she closed the distance between the at a breakneck pace, her knuckles growing white from the force that she was clutching the knife until suddenly her foot caught something.

Amy was so content on the cowering, fear-filled body of the helpless sapphire hedgehog that was always occupying her mind that she didn't notice her surroundings. She didn't notice the treacherous tree. She didn't notice part of a slashed, hanging noose and she certainly didn't see the deceased body of Sally Acorn lying on the ground. Amy tripped over the squirrel's limp, lifeless body and collided on the ground. Her outstretched hand fell first, her wrist cracking with the impact as it hit the ground until her body followed suit. Amy bellowed in pain as her chest hit the ground, straight on the sharp blade that she clutched in her broken, bent wrist.

"Sonic…" she breathed in anguish as the knife protruded deep into her chest, piercing her lung. Amy began coughing frantically, small dollops of blood exploding from her mouth with each cough as her lungs filled up with the hedgehog's blood. Amy eyed Sonic who stared back at her. She wasn't going to give up that easily.

Amy stretched out her hand, dug her nails into the dirt and pulled herself. She growled in pain, the knife scraping along the ground, digging deeper into her flesh as she pulled herself along the ground, closer to the hedgehog.

"You'll… never… keep… us… apart…" she gasped, blood filling up her mouth as she heaved herself across the ground. Mina cried in fright at the traumatizing image of the dying hedgehog crawl across the dirt like a mutant, deranged spider stalking its prey.

"Sonic," she moaned as she closed the final gap and reached out for his leg, trying to feel him one last time. Sonic quickly recoiled just in time, bringing his leg up to his chest as her palm crashed down. She just missed him as her hand collided with the dirt. She let out one final nightmare inducing moan as the disturbed, ever engulfing flame of Amy Rose finally petered out as her head fell into the dirt, dead. Sonic and Mina sat in silence, too shaken up to speak as they watched the dead body of Amy rose, bloody still slowly trickling out of her mouth like dribble.

After some time passed, the two animals finally rose and made their way back to the mansion in silence. Together, they pushed the boat down to the shore and set off, out into the wild blue yonder, leaving the island and all the horrible memories behind them forever.

…

"And, well, that's the end of my story," Sonic concluded with only one final minute left before the shows scheduled finish time.

"Wow, truly horrific," Gold breathed. "But I was told you were the sole survivor of this tragic event. You said that you and Mina both escaped the island on that boat but when you were found by that ship, you were the only one on the boat."

"yes, that's true. Unfortunately, that would that Mina got when fighting with Amy proved to be fatal. Amy sliced an artery and with no aid in time, she bled to death," Sonic sighed as he looked down to the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Gold said in a dull, saddened tone. Suddenly, however, she quickly perked up and looked at the camera just as Sonic opened his mouth to speak again. "Well, there you have it. The tale, recounted by the sole survivor himself right here, and nowhere else, on Golden Stories with me, Gold the Tenrec. Don't forget to check back next week for more interviews, and remember, stay golden," Gold smiled at the camera as she signed off. Sonic glared angrily at her for cutting him off and not even mentioning his name as she signed off.

Gold simply smiled back at the sapphire hedgehog before getting up and walking over to the crafts table to fix herself a glass of water.

"Thanks for cutting me off," Sonic said sarcastically.

"Thanks for the publicity. This was our most viewed broadcast ever. I'm going to be more popular than ever," she cheered as she walked off down the hallway. "enjoy readjusting to society," she looked back to see his face for her own amusement but the sight she saw made her blood run cold. Instead of the fearful look she expected, she saw him smirk at her before rushing off out of view.

Gold racked her brain, not able to get the menacing smile of Sonic out of her head. She ran through the all he said in his story. Suddenly, without realizing it, so many things he mentioned didn't add up, but one in particular.

'He said Mina couldn't receive aid and succumbed to her wounds, but Sonic himself said her found a first aid kit and threw it in the boat before Tails' death. He said there were bandages, meaning they could have stopped the flow of blood enough and disinfected it so that she could have survived. And if she really did die, why wasn't her body on the boat with him when he was found,' she thought. Suddenly, it hit her. She opened her eyes in fear as the glass dropped from her hand and shattered into a thousand tiny fractals on the floor.

"S…Sonic…" she breathed in the shadowy hallway.

"Yes?" he whispered. She felt the icy cold breath of a phantom on the back of her neck. She quickly spun around, coming face to face with two emerald circles and a row of pearly white teeth illuminated in the darkness. "You called?" he asked, smiling.

"You… you said Mina died from her wounds… but there was a first aid kit on the boat and when you were discovered, her body wasn't there," she said, trying to stop herself shaking like a leaf in front of him.

"Perhaps the first aid kit wasn't enough. Perhaps there wasn't enough bandages. Perhaps she fell overboard while I was sleeping and I couldn't save her body. The sharks do get hungry at night and I was awfully tired after that ordeal. Although, maybe if you didn't keep interrupting me all the time just to self-promote yourself and your show, I could have answered those questions. But no, you were only thinking about yourself and acting like a bitch to me the whole show," he smiled.

"S-Sonic… you… you're…" Gold stammered, fear taking control of her body as she realized it was just him and her in the dark, secluded hallway.

"Goodnight, Gold," Sonic said as he faded away into the darkness. "Sweet dreams."

Gold was left standing alone in the hallway until slowly, a smile of her own crossed her face.

"Hmmm, what an idiot," she laughed as walked off towards the door. She pushed open the back stage door, the cool, night air whipping her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper, tossing it to the floor. The hallway grew dark as the light that shone on the small piece of paper began to fade as the door closed until none of the little piece of paper advertising a cruise ship to a island paradise could be seen…

* * *

 _A/N: Well... there you have it... the conclusion of MoGHI. Did you guess the correct killer? Did you piece together all the clues and figure out her motives? Did you like it, or was it just a massive anti-climax? And most importantly, did you understand the cryptic epilogue or was it just dumb, confusing or just plain stupid? Did it even make sense? Please let me know your answers to all these questions and, if you liked this story, please consider leaving a favourite. Like all my stories, I will be posting an Authors Notes concluding chapter a little later to give my thoughts, some highs and lows and, most importantly, I'll clarify the ending a little better if you're a bit confused. If you have any lingering questions, picked up on some things that didn't quite make sense, or just want a shout out, don't forget to review. Thanks so much for reading, this was a lot of fun to make. I enjoyed trying my hand at a murder/mystery/horror story and I had a lot of fun writing Amy's final death scene. By the end of the week, the authors notes will be posted so get your questions in early and, thanks one last time for reading. Your support means the world to me and have a great rest of your day, I hope this was enjoyable._


	10. MoGHI: Authors Notes

A/N: Hey everybody, thanks for reading Murder on Green Hill Island. It was a strange type of story for me to write since I have never written any form of horror or mystery story before. I'm glad that it was so well received and all of you enjoyed it (I mean you must have liked something if you read the whole thing and are here reading this!) Whether you figured out that Amy was the killer or not, I at least hope it was an enjoyable twist, a satisfying reasoning and a confusing conclusion (Yes I will get to that in a bit.)

I was originally inspired to write this when I saw an old family guy episode called 'and then there were fewer' a couple weeks before starting the story. I wanted to try my hand at something new and I loved how family guy handled the trope of everybody is a suspect in a funny and surprisingly believable way. My favourite part being when Gillian's boyfriend gets approached by the killer on the roof (No spoilers here, go watch it for yourself, it's an entertaining watch) and says "Oh no, its you, the man or woman who has been killing everybody," to make fun at how we always see people die from the killers point of view but the characters never say the killers name in these genre's. That's why Amy had a little bit of a dialogue with everybody before they were killed but I never revealed anything, making sure to say 'the individual' or just 'they/them.'

Anyway, the main part of this particular Authors notes is just to shed some light on the ending, since a lot of people have messaged me trying to clarify what it meant and ask me if their theory was right. Basically, the main point of the ending was to be mysterious and cryptic. There wasn't supposed to be a clear cut answer. BUT, i will give away some of the possibilities for what it could mean.

Sonic was lying the whole time and he in fact killed them all. When Gold found out, he threatened her, which occurred in the confusing dialogue between the two where he was acting creepy at the end.

Sonic was telling the truth for absolutely everything. Plain and Simple. The creepy dialogue at the end was just him messing with Gold for how rude she was being and the flyer that she tossed at the end was just what she used for her notes to better acquaint herself with the story for her show.

Sonic told the truth up until the end, where he did in fact kill Mina because of his dropping popularity and wanted to be the soul survivor.

Amy told the truth in her reasoning except for one detail. It was Gold that gave her the idea about the island and helped orchestrate the whole thing, helping Amy out by killing Mina's team members and helping her do some of the more unbelievable things that she accomplished to get bigger ratings for her show, which is why she had that paper at the end.

Or many variations of the three, where Sonic was telling the truth, Sonic lied, Gold had something to do with it, Gold had nothing to do with it etc. The whole point was that despite what everything appeared on the surface, it was actually a lot more dingy underneath and that as a reader you should never take things for face value, as no story is simple and everything has complex layers if you take the time to look at it, or something like that. Although when writing I do have a TRUE ending in mind of the truth and who was lying and who was telling the truth and who actually killed the people and was involved, but I'm not going to say because that would make it cannon to the story mythos and that would ruin the whole point of that epilogue scene. I love hearing all the theories though.

Anyway, after clearing that up, I hope you aren't all super mad at me :P It was a blast to write and I hope you all had a blast reading it. If you liked it, please consider adding it to your favourites and checking out my other works. I have a romance story and two AU high school fics centering on all the characters in this story and many more. So, basically, thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope to see all of you in some of my other stories :)


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